Pleasant Days
by Scribble-Dead
Summary: Rosalia's backstory. Pleasant Days tells us the story of members of the Sartre family right until the Cumberland College incident and Rosalia's remaining days in Mexico. Massive Trauma Team spoilers, rated K for moderate profanity and blood.
1. Adoption

Rosalia couldn't reach for her dolls.

Being placed high up on the shelves, the little blonde was an inch too short to reach them. Tip-toeing as high as she could, she gave her toes a rest after doing it for a while. She had completed her homework just a while ago, but she was the only one who completed them. While all the other orphans were busy solving equations and answering questions, she realized that she has to play alone. If only she'd complete her homework a little slower.

Just as she was about to give up, someone reached up to her dolls and passed it to her. Rosalia knew who that person was, not before giving her thanks to that person.

"You know, you **are** a little too old playing with dolls at your age, Little Rose." Maria said.

"T-t-thanks, Maria. Of course, I still have to thank you from saving me from the fire."

"Ohhhh no. In case you aren't aware, this is probably the ninth time today for saying that. Don't you get tired of it? I do." The dark-skinned fourteen year-old turned away from the petite girl. Feeling very ashamed of her foolish stunt she committed days ago, for starting a fire within the compounds of the orphanage.

Rosalia's face turned red. Maria grinned, taking her friend's hand as the two girls ran out of their compounds. As Rosalia chased after Maria for her dolls, she tried jumping after them, only catching them with one last jump.

"Gotcha!"

A loud sound rang across the orphanage suddenly. Curious about what's going on, Maria and Rosalia crawled silently all the way just beside the stairs. To avoid being seen by any of the guests or the caretakers, they lay low and peeked at the scene. Seeing a blue-haired man with red eyes, with a lab coat on as well as a younger guest, with striking bold red eyes and flowing black hair, the two girls exchanged looks. Rosalia raised her head a little higher to get a better view of the guests, which somehow caught the attention of the younger guest. The moment he took a look upstairs, Maria and Rosalia pushed deeper on the floor until he turned away.

"Ah…Professor Sartre. It's nice of you to visit the House of Hope. Come, I'll lead you the way to the office…"

Both girls did not take their eyes away from the new guests until the sounds of footsteps were gone. Maria crossed her arms, pondering about the situation. Sure, sometimes guests visited the orphanage to adopt a child, but none of the adults gave any announcements regarding a new guest arriving today.

"If my intuition is correct, they must have visited this place to adopt one of us. I'm sure of it." She said, trusting her hunch. "Besides, that other guy gave me the chills on my spine."

"I think he looks cute." The younger girl said, without any traces of hesitation. She turned her attention to the two guests. "By the way they looked, they seemed quite friendly."

"And if you're talking about the smaller guy, I swear he gave me the creep moments ago. So…you want to know more?" Inquired Maria, with sinister ideas on her sleeves. She turned at the girl and guessed her mind was somewhere else. "Having fantasy thoughts on that guy?" She asked, her sinister smile gave it away what was hinting.

"Well, I….erm…They must be at the office now!" Pushing the question aside, the girls walked down the stairs quietly. Turning the doorknob as quietly as possible, they finally managed to eavesdrop on the continuous conversation. The orphans focused on all their attention to the discussion.

"…Well, Professor. Based on previous records you adopted this boy yourself too years ago, if I've remembered correctly."

"Yes, I did, Mrs. Donaldson," agreed the professor.

"I see. We've checked your income, living environment and also the way you provide your child. We've also conducted a homestudy at your place to see if you're eligible again to adopt another child. I must say that I'm impressed that you're able to meet these criteria despite your heavy workload at Cumberland College. It's tough raising a child and spending most of your time teaching college students in a renowned medical institution."

"Ha, not really. Managed to let me have some time-off for personal stuff." Prof. Sartre patted his son's head. "Actually, the exact reason why I'm adopting another child is because of him. He doesn't have many friends in school, a boy this young having to go through hard times. It's hard for him to socialize with other people as well." He turned to the boy, paying no attention to the lady right in front of him. He was reading a thick book with the cover wrapped in dull-colored paper. "He's quite the intelligent kind, doesn't he? Doesn't talk much at home."

"O-oh, yes. So, do you want to-" Mrs. Donaldson's words were cut short as soon as she and her visitors heard a 'thump' sound not too far away from them. Lying on the floor clumsily, Maria groaned in pain with her elbow hit the floor hard. The blonde moved towards the opening seconds after. As soon as she saw the misbehavior of the two children, a stern Mrs. Donaldson took the girls a little further from the office.

"Uh oh," said Rosalia in a sing-a-long tune.

"We're in deep shit." Maria said in a hoarse voice, getting ready to face the music.

"How many times do I have to tell you NEVER to eavesdrop in an adult's conversation? What you did just now is unspeakable, I'm disappointed with you both, you especially Rosalia." Scolded the caretaker. "Now go back to your rooms as punishment and write the line 'I must not eavesdrop in anyone's conversation again' 200 times. I expect you to finish this right before dinner."

She had a point, Maria thought. She can't talk her way back on this one, since she and Rosalia are clearly seen to commit an offense. Being caught by Mrs. Donaldson was another thing; that means not reaching first for the juicy stuff for dinner for her and her other accomplice.

"We understand, Mrs. Donaldson." The two girls said in unison.

"Come back, little girl."

Maria and Rosalia turned back, seeing Prof. Sartre calling out for one of them. He looked pleasantly happy to see one of them. The girls exchanged blank looks; Rosalia take a step forward. "Erm, me?"

"Yes, you." He kneeled one of his knee down towards the girl. "What's your name?"

"I'm Rosalia Rossellini. I'm turning seven this year…erm…mister…"

"Call me Professor Sartre."

"Ehem, Professor." Mrs. Donaldson coughed, wishing that her visitors can turned back to her attention. "You said you want to look around the orphanage. Shall we?"

"Oh yes, coming right at you, Mrs. Donaldson." The professor waved at his adopted son to come as well. As soon as the boy stepped out of the room, he gave an almost-emotionless glance at the hot-headed girl. Empty, lifeless and blank. It was probably the only descriptions that stick with Maria for that guy. Some reason or another, Maria can't take her eyes off the enigma until Rosalia pulled Maria's sleeve to catch her attention.

"Maria? I think it's time for us to return to our rooms. There are still two hundred lines to complete before we can go down for dinner."

"I…let's go, Little Rose. Don't want all the other snobs to take all the good stuff away. Man, if only it wasn't baked potatoes for dinner…" She pulled her only friend away from the visitors. The old caretaker led her guests around the orphanage meanwhile, introducing all the orphans around the building. (Yes, even those two pesky kids.)

The visitors left as soon as they arrived, as all of the orphans took a wild mass guessing who will be adopted this time. Realizing that the hype was getting more out of control, the caretakers took desperate measures to keep the noise level down for dinner. It took them a while before the dining room was in order, with Rosalia having dinner alone, isolated with the rest of the kids.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I doubt she'll be adopted. She looked so pale and sick, no adult wants raising a sick child like Rosie."

"Shh…don't let her hear that. She might hear us. You don't want Mrs. Donaldson to catch us teasing Little Rose again."

She was well aware that the other children were talking about her. Even Maria was giving a mild cold shoulder to the sickly child. However, there was a part of her yearning to shut those little devils up with their nonsense. What if she was picked out of the hundred in this orphanage?

* * *

Maria was surprised that her wild guess proved the hot-headed side of her dead wrong. Rosalia was actually going to be Sartre's daughter. Although the previous lesson from Mrs. Donaldson had drilled into her mind days ago, she couldn't help but eavesdrop at the conversation again. Her legs were already numb from squatting longer than expected, but nothing's going to stop her from knowing.

"…just have to fill up the paperwork, and meet up with your adoption attorney, you are good to go with Miss Rossellini. We hope that the paperwork won't take up much of your time."

"It's all right." The Caucasian man said, taking a small sip of hot coffee. Judging by the amount of skin covered on the sofa, it seems that he was alone with the caretaker this time. Thankfully Maria need not have to see the creepy boy this time. Observing the conversation attentively, she almost whelped when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. The tan-skinned girl covered her mouth and gasped to avoid Mrs. Donaldson and the professor from knowing that she was eavesdropping on them the whole time. Annoyed, she turned back.

It was Rosalia.

"WHAT are you doing here? You almost gave me a heart attack! Do you want me to get into trouble and write lines again?" She said angrily in a low tone. She plunged herself back from the tiredness, massaging her legs.

"I'm…sorry. Did I make you mad?" Maria could predict what the blonde girl was going to do like an open book. Before Rosalia could alert the adults, Maria did her best to calm her down.

"But Mrs. Donaldson and the guest had been talking about you ever since he came in." Maria tried to cheer Rosalia up. "The professor said that he's going to adopt you. You'll have someone who is willing to take you out of the orphanage. You should be happy about this."

Rosalia rubbed her wet eyes. "Sniff sniff. Really? Are you making this up so that I feel better?"

"Of course not. I'm not a hypocrite like the rest of us here. Why should I lie about something like this?"

"B-b-but the others said that I'm sick…and no one's willing to adopt a sick girl like me…"

"Don't listen to them…I mean…you decide if you are willing to take this as the truth." Maria stammered, crossing her arms as she spin away from the crying girl. _"Great, Maria. You just like to torture Rosalia whenever your nonsense becomes a real pain in the ass for everyone else. " _Not wanting to see her cry again, Maria turned to Rosalia.

"Okay, stop crying already. You're going to have a happier childhood leaving this place. See, someone thinks you're worth being adopted after all." She said, imitating her voice like an adult. "Your new father won't be happy looking at a sad crying child all the time." Rosalia stopped crying, her frown soon turned into a sweet smile Maria always knew of.

"Yeah, I'll make sure that I can be a great help in my new family." She got back to her own feet and soon headed for the study room. With all the other children struggling to get the sums done for the day…

"I'm going to be adopted!" The petite girl's words echoed round the room. The other children raised their heads and looked at her, surprised with out of all the other candidates, she was the one picked to enter the new family. All of them crowded towards the girl, the chattering spiraled out of control with their wild guesses proved them wrong.

"Wow, I can't believe it…"

"No fair. Why wasn't I picked?"

"…congratulations, Little Rose…"

"If only they picked me…I'm much well-behaved than you are…"

"Man, telling the whole world like that," smiled Maria, shaking her head as a wide grin appeared on her face. "She must be so happy someone's willing to take care of her after all…"

"As I thought, you must have overheard the conversation Prof. Sartre and I had in the office minutes ago, Miss Torres."

Maria gasped, turning her head to see the strict woman standing right on the back. "Mrs. Donaldson? You knew all along?" She looked at the caretaker, surprised; even taking much precaution from letting the woman noticed her appearance right outside the office.

"I'm not as blind as you have thought, young lady." Clapping her hands to grab all the children's attention, it took some time to chase all the orphans to get back on their homework, before she takes her eyes on Maria.

"You cheered Ms. Rossellini up for telling her the great news. I received some news from the director of the orphanage; she'll be leaving with Professor Sartre in two weeks time, if there aren't any hiccups hindering the process of handling the paperwork." The woman began giving all her attention to the young girl. "I guess I will like to drop the punishment for today, but this is the last time I'm doing that. If I see you or any other kid committing in all sorts of pranks, eavesdropping or not, I won't be closing an eye on your next offenses."

"Yes, Mrs. D!"

A rare smile formed on Mrs. Donaldson's face. "Perhaps you would start by writing a goodbye letter to Ms. Rossellini. I'll leave it to you in deciding your actions for her departure."

* * *

Over the course of two weeks, nothing out of the ordinary happened, but Maria was getting more worried day after day as the date drew near for Rosalia's departure. Sure, she felt very happy for Rosalia being chosen for adoption; there was something holding her back however. The reason kept bothering the girl; it gave her insomnia for several days.

She was not ready to see Rosalia off.

Even though she could be a 'pain in the ass' sometimes, she did care for her whenever she got herself into a big mess. Maria turned away from the moonlight, seeing the Little Rose she always knew sleeping peacefully on her bunk. Her skin, pale and smooth shone brighter than the moonlight coming from outside. Sleeping like a porcelain doll, resting quietly with the rest of the world sheltering her from any danger.

With that, Maria smiled and finally closed her eyes. This time, she was sure she'll fall asleep.

Another bright day has arrived, the warm sun shining at the House of Hope. The day when Little Rose finally got herself a new home and family. All the orphans were already out of the orphanage by the time the professor carried Rosalia's box of belongings onto the rear of the car. Surrounded with hugs and sobs, Rosalia knew that the children will miss her but she has no choice but to leave. There won't be any more chances for her to be adopted if she rejected Sartre's offer, an ill child like her usually finds it hard for an opportunity to come as easily as this.

Amidst all the children exchanging goodbyes to the blonde, Rosalia realized that someone was missing, apart from all the other caretakers besides Mrs. Donaldson.

"Where's Maria?"

"She's probably still sleeping. Most likely taking her sweet time walking down the stairs."

"Maybe she's not so accepting seeing you leave after all."

"Oh. That's why." She said with ease. Rosalia looked up at the window again, their bedroom where she and Maria, after today, used to sleep and talk about the future. Hoping to see Maria one last time, she waited. She did not come to see her off.

"W-w-w-w-wait, LITTLE ROSE!"

_It must be her!_

Maria huffed and puffed, running towards the girl with an envelope on her hand. Wiping the sweat off her face, Maria knew that she was willing to wait for her until she regained control of her breathing.

"Here, open it up."

Rosalia had her hands on the envelope. As she opened it, she found a photograph of everyone in the orphanage taken a few days before. The smiling kids, the helpful and kind adults, all happily posing in front of the camera under the bright sun.

"If you miss us anytime, you can take the photo out. It's not that you'll want to get rid of us that easily." Maria continued. "So, you like it?"

The little girl nodded eagerly. Before this can go on any further, at the far end Professor Sartre was getting a little tired waiting for Rosalia to get into the car as he turned to his watch. "I think it's time for us to go, Rosalia. Your new home is a long ride far away from the orphanage."

"One more thing, Rose."

"What is it, Maria?"

Maria leaned close to the short-haired girl, whispering from her ears. "If there's anything, big or small, don't hesitate to write me a letter. I'll be happy to meet you again in the near future." She said with little signs of obvious expression on her face.

"I will, Maria." Rosalia placed the photo back into the envelope. "It's…time for me to leave. I'll miss you, you, Mrs. Donaldson and everyone else." Refusing to let her friends see her cry for the last time, she held back her tears. Turning towards the professor's car, she gave her final words before making her way to the backseat, wiping the tears flowing out from her pinkish orbs.

"Goodbye, all of you."

Everyone waved, despite Rosalia turning away from her friends. Soon, there was no sign of either orphan chasing after her. She would expect Maria to scream at her to come back, but there wasn't. Confronting with the obstacles around her, she thought about her adoption in a different angle, as a chance to grasp on a new life.

"You will get used to your new way of life. I'm sure you'll like it, just as much my son and I do." The blue-haired professor said happily, despite being aware of his new daughter's sadness for leaving her friends. "Don't worry; I won't abuse you or anything, like what you usually see in soap operas." He chuckled, laughing on his own. Rosalia tried snuffling a few laughs on the professor's sense of humour, but ended up with a loud sigh. She wasn't sure if she regretted making this decision; away from all her friends, with only her older brother and her father to play with.

Still, it was a price to pay.

Sartre wasn't joking about the long ride. It took him a good few hours to get them stuck in the middle of a traffic jam, as well as making all sorts of twist and turn on the ride. There wasn't much to talk about, other than the usual questions ("Oh, your brother's still in school, he won't be back so soon." "You got to love your new home. I'm sure you'll fall in love with your new room.") With nothing interests Rosalia from the trip, aside from the sounds of the car engine and the soft classical music surrounding the vehicle, the princess soon fell into a deep sleep. Upon being waked up by her father, her wobbling legs partially numbed from bending too much, slowly pulled her out of the car.

She glanced carefully at the exterior of the house. It was newly furbished, with the thin smell of thinner still covering the house and a cute chimney on top marks a stark contrast with all the other houses along the concrete. The doors were plain and white, mixing in with the red walls very nicely. Also, there was a nice bell attached to the centre of the door. It was like a dream come true for this very girl.

This is her new home.

"Welcome to your new home, my lovely daughter."

* * *

**The first chapter took me hours to get the feel of the story right. (Not to mention about my aching back and shoulders too. Perhaps I need Dr. Cunningham to prescribe me with tranquilizers and painkillers.) I can't hold on much longer not being able to publish this. I was thinking of publishing this after watching the Trauma Team walkthrough videos from start to finish, but I was too eager, afraid that others may publish similar works like these. Ahh…so many ideas…**

**I'll be working this alongside the almost-concluding Anger Management and the upcoming fic 'Who Wants to Date With The Dullahan.' From what I have planned, this fic may be my longest in my record, but I can't compromise that it'll go the way I wanted. (Thanks to my infamous record of making incomplete stories and leave it as that.) Yes, I know this chapter is dry with Rosalia leaving the orphanage, but I promise the later chapters will be interesting.**

**Sorry if only a few characters from Trauma Team will be involved here, though there are some things that are mentioned in the present timeline of the game by CR-S01. Do remember that we're talking about Rosalia here. I'll make it up when I get my other story Six Lonely Souls published. (If anyone has a better title for the story I'll be happy to hear it.) **

**Finally, dun dun dun~. I finally thought of CR-S01's real name. It's not official/canon, but if anyone had already completed the game, can you tell me his canon name? It's extremely frustrating having him to remember everything and his name…his NAME! Pardon me if the fangirl inside of me gets…too hardcore sometimes. But meanwhile, please read and review. I'll give you some clues the name I have come up with for our dear prisoner; he'll be adopting the last name of his adoptive father, his first name starts with a letter from his prison number. I'll give you a cookie if anyone of you can give me the right answer. **


	2. Window Shopping

A soft click was heard on the doorknob as soon as the blonde girl and her father entered the brightly painted house. Rosalia was a little disappointed the moment she set her eyes on the interior; dirty plates piling up at the sink, clothes hanging around everywhere (Even the fan too), as well as the untidy shoe rack with shoes lying all over the place. She was still glad that the other parts of the house were clean, however.

Albert closed the door. "It's a busy week at the college; I didn't have time to clean everything up." He lead the way, calling his daughter to follow suit. "This way. I'm sure you'll like this."

Rosalia tilted her head. "A surprise?"

"Yup, your new room of your own." The professor agreed. Carrying the box full of Rosalia's belongings upstairs, despite his mind was filled with lesson planning for tomorrow's lecture, he felt that it's important to keep his daughter happy too. After all, he wasn't good with ladies, but he loved children very much. He always wanted to have one of his own; however after adopting one good kid, he thought that this boy needs a sibling to keep him company, in case anything happens to him.

There wasn't so much decoration when she reached upstairs. The lack of paintings, or sufficient lights made the size of the corridor look a lot narrower. The house was larger than she thought when she first viewed the exterior. Large space, so many rooms, Rosalia wondered if she is able to adapt to her new environment changes.

"This is your room. Take a good look at it." The professor said, pushing the door away to make it easier for Rosalia to enter. It was rather plain-looking, surrounded with light pink and yellow walls. Nicely-sewn dolls were placed on top of her bed. The bed's height was not too tall for Rosalia to reach out to, with it standing perfectly still.

It wasn't all that bad. At least she can make changes to suit her own needs, as what Albert said during the trip.

"You like it?" Albert smiled, this time in a non-creepy way.

The girl nodded. "It's perfect!"

"Well, I did ask the interior designers not to add any prints onto the walls. It's hard to fall asleep with all these noisy prints sticking out in the middle of the night." Albert reached towards the night-light right beside Rosalia's new bed, switching it on. "I've also added a night-light for you, since a little girl like you can be afraid of all the smallest things at night."

Rosalia grinned with excitement. "Thank you…erm…Professor, c-can I call you…Daddy from now on?" She knew they aren't related by blood. Despite with the legal consent, she was confused if calling the professor in an intimate term might not be appropriate or feels awkward…

"Of course you can, my little Rose."

"Yes, Daddy!"

'_Ding dong!'_

"I wonder who that is. I don't think school's over yet," Albert murmured. Calling the girl to follow him, the person pressing the doorbell soon got extremely impatient, the bells ringing over and over again. A swift gush of wind blew towards the visitor as she stood there angrily, her arms crossed while leaning towards the side.

"That took you forever, Professor. I was wondering if you aren't welcoming me again right after my last visit." The woman scoffed. She was a young lady, probably in her early twenties and a little young to be out working. A brunette, as it seems, with black natural eyes staring at Albert angrily. Holding a white handbag, her yellow shirt and a pair of denim jeans absorbing the sunlight just behind of her, she stormed into the house as she face-palmed at the mess.

"This house looked as if it was struck by a tornado, how do your expect your kids to live in this…this…junkyard?" She complained, collecting all the pieces of clothing hanging all over the living room before throwing them into the laundry basket. Noticing Rosalia looked confused with all the commotion, she placed the basket down, a friendly smile split on her face. "So, I forgot to introduce myself to you, kid. I'm Ellie Winstone and I'm a social worker checking on your father. What's your name?"

"I'm Rosalia. Nice to meet you." She said, looking at the brunette from head to toe. "So…what's a social worker?"

"Oh, I'm here to observe how your father treats the both of you." she explained, not before mumbling to herself "Making sure that he doesn't ruin yours AND your brother's life." After separating the laundry, Ellie stormed towards the sink as she swinged her handbag to the couch, turning the tap on to wash them. "And Professor Sartre? You seriously need to clean this place up once in a while. Don't forget I'm still checking on you and Clair." She scolded at the professor as she speaks. "Let me make this clear for the last time; first, I'm not your maid. Secondly, you are NOT allowed to tell your son to clean everything up. The last time I've checked, you did not adopt a child to become your servant; you are supposed to provide him the basic necessities-"

"I get it. I get it." Albert interrupted. "It is tough having to plan lectures day after day in a college; you should know this already." He dragged himself to the couch, calling Rosalia to sit on his lap. "I skipped work today so that I take Rose out of the orphanage and take a walk, but I supposed that you've reminded me of work when you're not supposed to."

Ellie sneered at Albert quietly as she gets the cleaning done around the house. Rosalia could hear her mumble "Let's see if you can do without me, I'll see who has the last laugh around here." She quickly turned to the blonde, knowing that she was staring at her for the whole time. "You just arrived here, right?"

"Yes, that is true."

So it seems Rosalia had pressed on the right buttons. The moment she had her hands off the clean plates, Ellie smiled happily, unlike the smile she had when Albert answered her, full with malice. "Let's go shopping! Perhaps we need to wait for Clair, don't want him to miss out all the fun."

"I'm home."

Everyone turned to the door as Clair, holding a pot of Pitcher plant, most likely belonging to the Sarraceniaceae family from the looks of it, half-covering his view. Rosalia could felt a sense of loneliness within her elder brother, looking as indifferent as she saw him for the first time back at the orphanage. His bright red eyes stood out in the room, not before turning to Ellie. "Where are we going again?"

* * *

The cold air releasing from the air-con blew directly at Ellie's face as Albert drove his family and her to the shopping mall. Ironically, Ellie has yet to cool down from the argument earlier on, directing the blades out of her face. As always, Clair was reading his 'Big Black Book of Everything' (Rosalia gave a name to his beloved book he always read ever since he visited the orphanage.), unbothered with the unsettling tension between Albert and the young brunette. Meanwhile, Rosalia was stuck in between, with a feeling that going window shopping was a bad idea after all. But finding out that she didn't have many clothes with her now that she left the orphanage, this was necessary. Fortunately the trip to the mall was not as far as the trip from the orphanage as Albert parked his car shortly after.

"All right, kids. We're here." The blue-haired professor told his children. He got out of the car, carrying little Rose who was so tiny and frail. Clair got out of the car obediently, putting the book away and stuck it in his armpit.

"Ok, one thing before we leave; stick to your father and your big sister Ellie at all times. Don't want you kids to get lost in there. Imagine I'm your mother." Ellie warned the kids as if they were her children.

"Well, you did sound like a mother, just so you know Miss Winstone." Joked Albert, unlocking the car and place Rosalia down.

"And you don't sound like a father, Professor Sartre." Ellie emphasized, waving at Rosalia to hold her hand. She remembered the first time she met Albert when he first adopted his son from another orphanage. His accent did freak her out as they speak, while looking at him as if he was some kind of criminal, a dangerous pedophile. Not long after she got used to it and started bickering with him whenever he doesn't act very fatherly to his children. Reminiscing again, she did sound like a worrisome and nagging mother as she spoke. "Okay…kids, let's GO SHOPPING!"

The foursome strolled along the corridors, finding suitable clothes for the new member of the Sartre family. Interestingly, Clair did not look jealous nor sulky as both the adults' attention were on Rosalia. He pulled his white windbreaker out of his waist and put them in, the air-conditioner sometimes made him cold for the somewhat cold-blooded teenager.

Women of all ages looked at Albert suspiciously as he pulled out a dress from the pile of unsorted clothes. Little did they know, the dress was for his daughter. Rosalia tried out all the set of clothes but the ones that Ellie picked were all ended up bought and the ones that Albert picked…well…only some of them were chosen. That did not sadden him, but at least he knew he doesn't have much taste in women's clothing.

As the hours flew, Albert and Clair were already tired of walking in circles, but the girls were enjoying themselves, having the time of their lives. Frolicking around with her new dress, Rosalia hopped around along with her new pink shoes, each clapping in different loudness each time the shoes made contact with the marble surface.

Ellie's eyes widened after looking at a dress on display, despite the fatigue taking most of her energy away. Dropping all the shopping bags she carried, she pulled Rosalia, who was standing at the back into the store.

"Could you let her try on the dress on display? The white one, please." The brunette asked the salesperson. The lady went back to the storeroom, finding the dress Ellie requested. After some messy rummaging, she passed the piece of clothing to Ellie. Looking at it carefully, the light taint of pink on its cloth with pink spaghetti straps matches the little girl perfectly. As she checked the size, both she and Rosalia felt that the dress was way too big for her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that this is the only size for this dress." The salesperson told Ellie after returning to the storeroom. "I don't think we're going to receive any more stocks for this one, the company which manufactured this closed down several months ago."

It would be a great pity for both girls if Ellie decides not to buy this dress after all. Staring at the beautiful dress, Ellie's head played around with the thought of several alternatives. Altering the dress wouldn't work, it would definitely ruin the mood of both the wearer and the people around her. Neither would making a dress similar to this could work. If only Rosalia's a little older…

"Eureka!" Ellie exclaimed suddenly, scaring Rosalia and the salesperson out of the surface. "Fine, I'll buy this dress." She told the salesperson, and then turned to the little girl. "You can wear this dress when you grow older. I'm pretty sure your father and your brother will LOVE it."

At last, Ellie's efforts did not go in vain, tugging the last shopping bag out of the shop. By the time they were out of the shop, the only thing that worries her was actually carrying thousands of shopping bags to their meeting place.

"So, you girls have done enough shopping for one day?" Albert asked calmly, fidgeting the straw he had on his fingers. He was smiling at the fact that Ellie was too tired to have dinner and the bags had surrounded the entire area. Ellie rested her head on the table the moment she released all her load onto the floor, complaining to Albert _"we did all the hard work while you and Clair were sitting here, watching us suffer and struggle."_

The professor smirked, placing the bent straw on the table. "Actually, you are the one who insist in buying too many clothes for my Rose. Like you said, we men have 'poor taste in fashion.'" He called the waiter for the menu. "While waiting for you and Rose, Clair and I thought that it's best for us to have dinner before you return." He turned to look at the stoic boy, reading his book quietly. "My treat, call up anything you want, but I think you're aren't the type who would order the most expensive dish in the res-"

"I would like the most expensive dish in the house," Ellie interrupted, the waiter immediately serving her with a glass of iced water and turned to Rosalia. "So, Rose, what do you want? Like your father said, he is treating me with the most expensive dish in the menu." She asked gleefully with malice in her speech.

Albert tried sustaining his smile, for the sake of his daughter and clenched his fist behind everyone's back. "Oh, how nice of you, Ms. Winstone." He was intending to strangle the woman's neck if she's a man making a mockery out of him, but since he is civilized and a person with great wisdom, he quickly ruffled the small issue aside. He reached for his back pocket and pulled out his wallet after much trying and sighed. "Guess I'm going broke soon at this rate…"

* * *

Albert relaxed his muscles as he drove his children (and Ellie) home. It was a tiring day for everyone, even for Clair as he dozed off, treating his book as his 'security blanket' little boys do in their toddler days. The same goes for Rosalia, but she almost fell in the same state as her brother. Observing her using the rear-view mirror right in front of him, this alone sparked a thought about something that concerned Rosalia.

"Rosalia, are you still awake?"

"Uh hmm. What is it, Daddy?"

He took out a small letter at the front of the car before passing it to Rosalia. "I'm enrolling you to elementary school, school starts tomorrow morning. I've bought all your school books and necessary items, so you don't need to worry too much about it now."

Rosalia read the contents of the letter twice before turning back to her father. She felt a little daunted with everything rushing to her as if there's no tomorrow. Sure, she knew she have to go to school again when she's ready, but NOT this soon as she had initially expected. "If I remember correctly," Albert asked, confirming a fact. "You are in the second grade this year, am I right? I'm sorry this is sudden, but this important for you."

She nodded dutifully. Ellie turned; murmuring in her sleep and snored softly that does not hinder the father and daughter conversation. "One more…just one more…"

"Okay, Ms. Winstone, you're home. Time to get off the car now." The car stopped just right at Ellie's doorstep. From the size of the house, Rosalia knew that the woman lives all alone by herself. She wondered if she left her parents, or worse, her parents left her all by herself in this world. As she imagined herself being in Ellie's shoes, living alone in a small house looks scary and depressed. With no family to turn to or without friends standing by your side, she pondered how one person is going to survive. 'No man is an island', Mrs. Donaldson would always say to her fellow orphans back at the orphanage.

The social worker clutched her head as she gets off the car. Appearing drunk, her heavy eyelids trying to keep her eyes close but she reminds herself to keep them open until she lands on her comfy bed. The high heels on her shoes made it worse for her to stand still.

"Err…goodbye…see you next week…" The door slammed shut, and soon after the car left a drunken Ellie alone. By the time they left, she was already in the living room, snoozing away, whispering nonsensical random words to herself.

For the rest of the night, Albert tugged his daughter to bed for the first time. The moment she dragged herself into dreamland, he pulled several dresses from the shopping bags and observed what fascinating fashion sense those girls have.

"Hmm…perhaps I do lack in my…fashion sense. It seems that Ms. Winstone is right about that for once on that fact."

* * *

**My longest A/N yet. Watch me rant on how much I love this series.**

**Erg…this chapter is more boring that I've expected. No worries; Ellie Winstone won't be hogging the spotlight for the rest of the story. I'll put her on the bus as soon as I get some of the boring parts done. Bear with it as the first couple of chapters revolved around Rosalia adjusting to her new life before we get any actual plot moving. (The later parts are actually more interesting than this, cross my heart. Trust me, it will get better.) And yeah, if you played the final chapter, you know how the story's going to end. *Raising and lowering my eyebrows.***

**You won't be seeing her again after that and when I say never, I mean it. Before I go on, I want to apologize to you guys that I'll be adding more OCs here, since I doubt the main characters are going to see familiar characters from the game all of a sudden. It mostly about Rosalia, Albert and Clair (Yes, that's the name I've chosen for CR-S01. In case you don't get it, ClaiR Sartre. Look at the capitalized letters. I'm not so sure how you pronounce it, since there's a Claire in the game. You know, the suicidal girl who's with Hank all the time? It's pronounced as 'care', or something. Tell me if you know the right pronunciation.) If you want to know the meaning of this name, go check 'Behind the Name' for more information. (Okay, I do think I sound as if I'm doing a commercial here.)**

**So I've checked my e-mails everyday, and I would like to give you guys a very big thank you for your support. I really hope I don't fall myself slipping to hiatus again, like I did with my other fics. I'll update the story every Monday (Or Tuesday, if I can't make it in time) and Friday, so stay tuned. Anger Management will be updated irregularly, but I'm going to end it really soon. You know, sometimes I'm confused with the timeline in what and when certain events take place. I really should get my hands on the game and buy a Wii as soon as I get some money out of my savings (and allowance too). **

**I'm going to fix some parts of chapter one, got too tired checking and re-reading it by the time I completed writing the chapter. There are some things that aren't supposed to be there; be prepared for some alterations in the first chapter. Oh, so much pressure for writing a great fic here, but I'm happy the way it is. **

**Don't forget to R&R, the story will get more interesting after Ellie leaves the story. I don't think I'll be putting her here for…say, more than two chapters. And well, you get to see lots of interesting stuff. One more thing; do you think Albert is out-of-character here? Since the game doesn't flesh out much about his personality, aside from being a loving father and a dedicated scientist. Another thing; do you think I should add some humorous scenes in it? I don't want the early chapters to get very serious. However I'll drop most of it altogether as the story progresses. Feedback about my writing is most welcome.**

**Just one request; anyone living in Cumberland, Maryland? Since most parts of the story is set there in the game and I'm not American, as you can see in my profile. I don't know anything about the place, aside from what I found in Wikipedia and other sites. **

**P.S.: About Albert's poor fashion sense, go watch the second-last case in the Forensics mode. There's a choice that is definitely wrong, but mentions about his 'poor fashion sense.'**


	3. Cooties

The first thing Rosalia sees the next morning was observing how different her new bedroom is. She was so used to having several children talking to one another loudly back in the old days, sometimes running around play their traditional game of 'Morning Tag'. It was just her and the shining night lamp in her new room now. Scratching her messy gold hair, she remembered today was her first day of school.

She really did missed the nostalgic days back there.

After getting ready for school, she pulled her socks up before rushing down the stairs. Her father and Clair might be waiting for her for breakfast but no souls were present when she got there. Placing her bag on the couch, she found her brother at the backyard after searching for him everywhere around the entire house. Typing rapidly at his observations on the Pitcher plant, Clair did not realize that his sister was standing right at his side.

"Hi, big bro!"

That made him jumped out, his computer almost falling out of his lap. He didn't scream or yelled at her appearance, but it did scare the life out of him. This was the first time Rosalia saw him with a different facial expression, in a state of shock besides having the boring, lifeless emotion he held on most of the time.

"Seriously, you appeared in front of me like a ghost." The older boy said, finishing his report before turning back to his sister.

"You look occupied a moment ago. I thought you saw me when I came." Rosalia took a good look at the plant and turned to Clair. "Hmm…I don't see anything interesting about it…so what does this plant do?"

"This Pitcher plant belongs to the Sarraceniaceae family; along with Nepenthaceae, which is another family of Pitcher plants." Clair explained, pulling it closer to the girl. "It is a carnivorous plant which feeds on insects instead of making its own food through photosynthesis. They lured insects with nectar, using their elongated tube-shaped leaves filled with water and enzymes used for digestion to catch and eat them. Most species also used these downward pointing hair and waxy secretions, as well as phytotelmata to make the insects difficult to escape." He turned back to look at Rosalia, who was extremely confused and perplexed at the way he used all those colorful words. Once the girl had digested the information, she asked. "Why can't they make food like other plants through photo…er…"

"Photosynthesis." Clair corrected, pulling Rosalia's finger from getting near the opening. "I'm absolutely sure that you do not want your fingers to be burned from its acids. These plants are used to grow in acidic soil with little to no nutrient; most plants cannot grow properly if the soil becomes too acidic or alkaline. That is the reason why they get all their nutrients from insects." The boy sighed after finishing explaining it to Rosalia. "Too bad they can't live long when winter sets in. Such is the way of Nature."

"Wow…you know a lot." Rosalia said. "That Big Black Book of Everything must have all the information in the world."

"Not really." The boy said nervously, picking up his plant and laptop. "Big Black Book of Everything?" He raised his eyebrows, pondering for a second there.

Rosalia realized they have yet to have breakfast. "Let's wake Daddy up. I'm sure he'll take us for breakfast. I'm hungry."

"Okay. You wait here; I'll go wake him up. He doesn't like anyone touching his documents and equipment. Go visit the neighbors or something." Clair fled and taking his suggestion into consideration, making good relations with her neighbors is one way to be accustomed to her new home. She walked alongside the pavement, noticing the houses along the road are all identical to each other, hers being the only house that is different in terms of everything. All painted in green and rusty grey, this made it less lively compared to the house she was living.

After searching for any human presence, she finally saw a boy around her age, a green and red shirt with a pair of denim pants standing alone, playing ball by himself. Rosalia approached the boy, watching the ball bouncing up and down.

"Hi there! I'm new here, you can call me Rosalia. What's your name?" The pink-eyed girl introduced herself as friendly as she could; getting ready to shake his hand. The boy stopped bouncing the ball, stared at the girl and frown before running back to his house. She realized that she's all by herself again; disappointment flowing through her mind for the fact that her first attempt in making a friend in the neighborhood had floundered. _Was she too friendly? Was he afraid of her? No, that's not it…she didn't do anything that scared him away, _she thought silently for a second there. She listened to the leaves rustle, hoping that the boy would come out and go to school, until…

"Rose! Where are you?" It was her father calling for her, with Clair standing alongside him.

"Coming, Daddy!"

* * *

"Good luck on your Biology test."

He waved goodbye without even turning back, indicating that school's about to start.

It didn't take too long for Albert to send her daughter to her new school, since the middle school Clair attends is quite close to the elementary school, of course in terms of distance. For the past weeks, the professor had tried talking with the principal in putting her in a good school, until he is finally convinced that Rosalia can do well in her studies and caused no trouble to tarnish the school's reputation.

The car took a smooth stop as Rosalia got out of the car. It was just any other elementary school, with energetic kids running around and hanging out at the playground. The sign written above the school reads 'East Side Elementary School', bold and clear shining brightly as the shiny surfaces reflect the sunlight shooting down at them. The day was clear, the grass is green and the weather's not too hot or cold. The perfect day to begin her new school life.

"Come with me, Rose. We need to make a visit to the principal's office before doing anything else." Albert said, holding the little girl's hand. Rosalia followed suit.

She could see children about her age not willing to let go of their mothers' hands around the fields outside school compounds, wailing and crying at their parents to join them in their new classes.

_This feels like kindergarten._

She knew she can't help them overcome their fear to become independent, starting by being away by their parents. After all, she is an orphan; she had no recollections of her parents, only knowing the fact that she "had been abandoned by her parents at an extremely young age" by the caretakers back in that place.

"Okay, Ms…what should I call you? Rossellini or Sartre?"

"Rosalia will be fine. But if you must insist, Rossellini is fine too."

"Okay, Ms Rossellini," started the principal, smiling at his new student. "Welcome to East Side Elementary School. Don't be afraid to ask the teachers if you have any questions. You'll get along with your new classmates soon enough." Filling up the rest of the contents on his document, the old man, his hair almost bald had his small beady eyes concentrated on the paper. He lacks a beard or a moustache, his pointed nose resembles some cartoon character she can't remember from a television series. If only she knew the name.

"And…we're done. Once again, welcome to East Side." The first bell rang just in time for lessons to begin. He pressed the telecom, calling a teacher to fetch the girl to her new class; his nasal voice rang across the office.

A female teacher with short red hair, wearing the usual matching purple blouse and black skirt entered the room. She was much shorter compared to the principal and Albert and despite that fiery hair, her emotions matched perfectly from her clothes, serious and grim from the likes of it.

"Ms. Kelly, would you mind sending Ms. Rossellini to class?" He asked politely, rubbing his eyes. A simple 'yes' is all it takes for the teacher to gain approval to teach her new student.

"Have fun, Rose. I'm going to work; Clair will be fetching you back home from school when you're done." Albert gave one last hug for the morning, before seeing his daughter sent off to her new class.

"Come with me." The black skirt wavered across the empty corridors. Seconds became minutes as Rosalia walked alongside her teacher, _what's taking us so long to reach the homeroom?_ Lucky for her, Ms. Kelly stopped at the homeroom, walking to the noisy classroom briskly as she placed her heavy books onto her desk.

"All right class, settle down." Her words made the students settle down like good little angels, sitting quietly on their seats. "Before I take class attendance, we have a new student joining our class." She turned to the pale girl, signaling her to introduce herself.

"I'm…Rosalia, and I'm seven this year." The girl introduced herself softly, blushing at the attention her fellow classmates are giving.

"I can't hear you!"

That voice ran across the other side of the room, all the kids turned back with their short attention span ruling their minds. The boy seemed familiar to her, where did she saw him…

_It's the boy playing that ball a while ago!_

"Mr. Shelby, what did I say about manners?" Ms. Kelly lectured at the boy; a considerate tone was clearly heard as she speaks. "It's okay, you can introduce yourself again. No need to be shy." She reassured the blond before letting herself try again.

"I'm Rosalia Rossellini. I'm seven this year, nice to meet you." Rosalia tried again, louder this time. The children chatter among themselves, except for that kid who shouted at her, looking down at his muddy shoes.

"You can take a seat next to Matilda." Rosalia obediently took her teacher's instructions, a girl with long black hair with butterfly clips hanging at the side of her bangs, wearing a black dress with a start contrast with Rosalia's blond and white dress. Like they were exact opposite. Looking unconcerned and bored, her eyes turned to Rosalia before turning back straight to the blackboard.

"She's taking attendance." Now she knew why Matilda was looking ignorant. Ms. Kelly called and ticked each student's name whenever she was given an answer. After the work was done, she became alert, starting by "Okay, kids, lets recite the Pledge of Allegiance with me…"

* * *

"Hey, bud."

Clair turned around, seeing his only friend calling out for him. After taking all his books needed for his upcoming lessons in his locker, he slammed it shut, with all the students staring at him whenever he passed by. His friend was the only one who stood close to him, who soon caught up after a while.

"So…would you mind sharing your Biology notes for the Biology test?" The red-eyed boy shoved his set of notes at the slightly tanned boy, his cap almost falling off from his head. The other boy flipped through them before tapping him on his shoulder, being unresponsive as usual as they walked to their first class.

"Thanks!"

"You are going to fail your finals if you insist in taking my notes again, Jarek." The quieter boy said, a rare sight for the teenager to speak in school. He usually avoids making a conversation, like he always does. Seeing anyone that get in his way backing off sometimes was irritating for him, remembering the days when his biological parents were still around.

He had trouble making friends, but it was all right. He liked being a loner, no matter what others might say about him. When Jarek came along in his first weeks in middle school, he was unexcitable about it, to say the least. He got used to him following everywhere he goes, so much that he had became his unofficial stalker despite his infamous popularity of being a freak. At least he doesn't have anyone sucking up to him; perhaps his notes would do the trick sometimes.

He would always see students backing out whenever he passed by. But today was different; no one took any steps back. He knew something was wrong, very wrong. Not the usual day he's having. Everyone looked…eager and pleased with him.

"Wait up, Sartre!" He and Jarek could hear someone calling miles away. Boys with letterman jackets rushed to him like wildfire, tagging their girlfriends along across the quiet hallway. They weren't usually behaved like that. Not this friendly. And ecstatically sweet with genuine smiles on their faces.

"Man, you sure are a fast one, kid." The brunet said, perhaps the leader out of the team. Every single student around the hallway was staring at him eerily, and on Clair alone. He kept his cool, pretending to be clueless in his situation, but on the other hand, Jarek did the exact opposite…

The bunch offered him some kind deals with him, such as sitting with him during lunch break, protecting him from the other 'losers', a deal somewhat similar to a 'promotion of his social status', so forth and et cetera.

"…you can be the first person sitting across the first rows during football matches. So, what do you think?" The brunet asked, offering him tempting deals.

"So, in exchange with what? I doubt you are the kind of person that acts so generously to the people you like...nope, for your amusement." He corrected. "In that case, you're after my Biology notes for the upcoming test before lunch break, if my intelligent guess turns out right."

He had seen through his façade.

"Don't even think about taking those notes from me Jackson." Jarek said, clutching his notes to his chest as he speaks. Triggering his 'buttons', Jackson proceed to grab him from his collar, tugging him like a doll with a head that was about to fall off.

"Why shut your gap you son of a-" Reminding himself that the red-eyed kid was right in front of him, he let go of Jarek, adjusting his jacket before proceeding.

"Well….erm…I-no, we haven't been studying since we're preparing an upcoming match next week. You see, you gave him…no, Jarek your notes, right? So…you think you could…share them with us?" He was perspiring as he speak, getting more and more impatient before he would want to hear the bell go off again. Again, Clair pretended to think if he would want to pass them his precious notes. _Hmm…let's see, they claimed the football match will be held next week, but aside from practices, Clair himself lost count on the times he did anything else but study for important tests. Remembering those days where he did gave those notes he prepared like they asked, but shift the blame to him as soon as they found out they had failed their papers._

He did gave them chance, they chose to throw them away. Finally coming up with the final answer, he smiled at the group, a rare sight from a gloomy boy like him. "But what if I say, well, like, no?"

* * *

Recess time; the best time of the day to know your classmates and play with them.

Rosalia visited her classmates at the playground, climbing up the monkey bar and falling down the slides. As wild as they can be, she followed suit starting by joining the kids down the slide. The boys, upon seeing the girl sitting just above them, quickly slide down and gave puzzled stares.

"Oh, they are just jealous of you being the new girl in school today," said one girl, with curls on their ends. She then takes a brief look at the girl before continuing. "Your skin's very pale. You look like a ghost wearing this dress." She lifted up the dress, observing it carefully.

The pale-skinned girl hastily pulled it down, straightening the wrinkled parts. "My daddy bought this. I think it look nice on me. I have to go now, and I don't think we're in the same class. Well, see you again." Feeling uncomfortable with the girl, she was so concerned with getting away from that girl until she did not see where she was heading.

_THUD!_

She fell on her two feet, rubbing her head; the other kid did the same to himself. Groaning with pain, he spoke harshly on how clumsy and careless the girl was, the moment both kids looked up, the boy gasped: He was the same boy she met before heading to school and the one who shouted at her during class.

The boy gasped, crawling back using both pairs of his hands and feet, putting the confused girl on a difficult spot. A loud, long scream was heard all around school as all the kids stopped what they were doing, wondering what the commotion was all about.

"GAHH! I've touched a girl! Oh no!" yelled the boy, backing out further from Rosalia. "I've got the cooties! GAHH! It's the end of the world! I'm going to DIE!"

All the boys around him followed suit, screaming around when the 'infected' boy began chasing after them. 'Cooties' and 'disease' were the only words ever mentioned around the field. Ms. Kelly and several other teachers stopped the kids from contributing to more noise pollution after hearing the big commotion, before things went out of control.

Over the course of the ongoing lessons till the end of school, the boys began avoiding either Rosalia or the boy from catching the cooties. On the other hand, the girls aren't as paranoid as the opposite gender, but some were still unwilling to hold Rosalia's hand or goes near her. It was then rumors start spreading around the entire student body, from a harmless 'cootie shock' to a 'deadly disease' ready to wipe out the entire human population.

She and the boy (Whose name was revealed to be Andrew 'Drew' Shelby by Matilda, who was a little kinder to Rosalia) were seen as the 'origins' of the entire cootie outbreak and whenever Rosalia or Drew visited anywhere the school, the students either covered their mouths or pushed them away from them.

Concerned with the commotion going on, the blonde tried showing some concern to the other guy, who was grim and upset with everything that's happening.

"Are you all right, I'm-"

"You happy now? All my friends aren't playing with me anymore. You cootie-filled girl." Drew snared, pushing the girl's hand away from him. "Arg…now I have more cooties within me. Oh…it's the end of the world~ THE END!" Drew screamed hysterically before running away from the girl after school. There was no time for Rosalia to feel glum as Albert, as well as Clair was waiting in the car. She was surprised that her father was going to take her home, since he did told the girl earlier on that he had to stay at the college longer today.

"What's wrong now, Rose?" The professor asked, carrying two plates of pizza out of the microwave. Dinner time soon arrived for the family as all three of them settled down on the dining table. She feel something very different about Clair today, he was different when he first woke up in the morning and the time when he was in the car. His arms were bandaged heavily, a small plaster attached to the bridge of his nose as he bring himself down to the table, waiting patiently for dinner to be ready.

"Well…I didn't make any friends in my first day of school today." Said a crestfallen Rosalia, taking a slice of the pizza out of the plate.

Albert put his hand around his daughter's shoulders. "Don't worry; it's only your first day of school. There's still a lot of time to make new friends. It isn't so bad." He reassured the girl with sweet talk.

"Did anything happen in school today, big bro?"

The older boy shrugged, his only words were 'I got into a fight in school today, don't ask why' before munching on his pizza slices.

She asked for permission to watch television after she was done with dinner. Her father agreed, and Rosalia watched the prime time soap opera showing on one of the channels available. It was the only show she was allowed to watch back at the orphanage, partially because it was Mrs. Donaldson's favourite show. Her eyes were glued to the screen, watching the climax of today's episode.

"_Oh, Liam! There's something…I need to tell you. I don't think I'll be able to get this out of my mind again. I'm…I'm pregnant. You are the father of this child." _The woman said, rubbing her tummy gently as she showed her slightly bloated stomach to the man.

"_W-w-what? That's impossible! How do you know I'm carrying this child?"_

"_It's your child after all! How could you?" _The actress wiped her tears off before continuing. _"It's too late now, I cannot abort this child."_

Rosalia was speechless and her eyes wide open at the thought of having to carry Drew's child at such a young age. She's only seven, yet she has to carry the burden all by herself. No wonder he was so mad at her, it was too late for her or him to stop this from happening. All has been done; Rosalia and Drew are going to take care of their child in Rosalia's 'bloated' tummy.

She had trouble sleeping for the next few nights, the thought of babies, cooties and parents clouded her mind. To make matters worse, she had difficulty paying attention during class, much to Ms. Kelly's annoyance. The alienation she had to face from her schoolmates added more fuel to the fire; no one was willing to sit next to her during recess. No kid, with the exception of Matilda but her friends pulled her away before she could utter a word would want to play jump rope with her in the playground.

The crisis became larger when Rosalia was haunted with the same nightmare she experienced every single night. She dreamed her tummy was getting bigger and bigger and the infant was covered with the horrible red substance known to man as blood, its face so disfigured to make it seem as if it has no face at all. Her father and Clair ignored her when she approached them. She was all alone and Drew was walking away from Rosalia as she chased after him. 'Drew, Drew, Drew' was all the words she said in the figment of her semi-unconscious mind, but fortunately she woke up just in time to avoid seeing herself and the baby in a nightmarish state. She always woke up out of breathe with sweat covering her face.

She could not take this any longer. She must get this awful truth out of her chest. The only thing that's stopping her is if her father or Clair were ready to take this painful truth.

The start wasn't going right for her, falling down from her bed as soon as she found herself at the edge.

"Oh…a bad start. Getting up at the wrong side of the bed, literally. I doubt Daddy or Big Bro could take it. I wonder if the baby's all right, I have to be more careful from now on."

This is it. The moment she had been waiting for. She tip-toed down the stairs, only to have her plan backfired when the red-eyed teenager found her goofing around the steps.

"What are you doing up there? Do you want to use the washroom?" Albert asked, frying sunny side-ups as he spoke. Soon Rosalia joined her family on the table; a pair of fried eggs eyed the girl suspiciously on her plate.

Albert quickly made an intelligent guess, by the discouraged expression on his dear daughter's face. "Your hair's messy at the back." He pointed it out, combing down the ruffled hair from Rosalia. She blushed, redder than the apples she found at the grocery store. Her unsettled pink eyes gave away her anxiety; it was too late to back out now.

"Well, I haven't been sleeping well lately."

Albert's head cocked to the side. "Is there anything wrong?"

Rosalia nodded her head dutifully. "The thing is…where should I start?"

"You can take your time. I'm all ears, so is your brother." He turned to Clair, munching on his eggs and reading his Big Black Book of Everything simultaneously, having his eyes met Rosalia's before continue reading.

"You see, I…have the cooties." She began, her start went off nervously. She clutched her shorts tightly as she went on. "I accidentally touched a boy during recess a few days ago, and hence I contacted the cooties." The more she spoke; her tears started trickling out of her eyes. "I don't know and I'm so confused. I'm going to have a baby with Drew."

There was a long silence hanging across the room. _Any minute now_, Rosalia expected a long lecture from her father, followed by taking the baby out of her dear tummy. She closed her eyes, waiting for a slap to be given.

Instead, Albert and Clair began giggling, not before cracking into a huge laughter as an amused Albert found himself unable to control his emotions. His brother, however, was giggling softly under the table and it was difficult to see whether he was actually laughing, crying or jesting at the girl.

"Hahahahahaha…very funny, Rose. Very funny." Albert slapped himself in the face and torso, taking control of his laughter before saying anything else. "There's nothing to be worried about, I'm a hundred percent sure that you're not carrying a baby inside your tummy. That's all I can say. Good one, I have no idea you can pull off such a joke at us."

"You talked about cooties, right? I think you mean hair lice."

"Hair lice?"

"Nothing too important." Clair sniffed out his chuckles as he speaks. This was her very first time she saw Clair laughing, he was usually emotionless and stale in everything he does.

Rosalia blinked. "So, I'm not pregnant?" She smiled as she confirmed this fact into her head. "I'M NOT PREGNANT!" She jumped with joy and got out of her seat, running around the room with all her troubles wiped off her mind. There was still one problem bothering her. "So, Daddy, where do babies come from?"

Albert and his son were stumped. She is way too young to understand these concepts at her current age, let alone explaining the basics to her. The professor regained his stance, confidentially telling Rosalia that he'll "explain everything to her when she grows older." Not the right time to explain the birds and bees.

"Tell your friends that there's nothing wrong with a girl touching a boy, vice versa. You won't get pregnant like this. No wonder you aren't behaving like yourself for the past few days. I was wondering if you're falling sick or something." Albert said, shoving the plate of eggs to his daughter. "Eat some; you need the energy to study in school later on. I see that you haven't been eating properly, given by the color of your face."

"And I'm going to tell our new neighbour that we can be friends together. Maybe I'll invite him to our home."

* * *

**I need more reviews and alerts to get motivated writing this fic. All sorts of feedback are welcome! 3.**

**It seems that I have been getting fewer reviews when I published the previous chapter. This is only the beginning, and if you want to know what happened to Clair/CR-S01 during the time he was in school till he was at the car injured all over, you have to stay tuned to the next chapter to find out. That way, you guys will be wondering about his injuries. (And get more reviews, muahahahahahaha…just kidding.)**

**Like I said for the past two chapters, the beginning is pretty mundane and more character-driven. The exciting parts will come in due time, and there's another thing; the other main characters of Trauma Team will be appearing as they listened to Clair's stories about his and his sister's past, especially Maria (Which she will find out what he, Albert and Rosalia are going through.) Not to worry, I've preparing another fic that is all about the main characters of Trauma Team, set in five or six months after the Rosalia virus outbreak (Six Lonely Souls). It will be published later, after I get the plot of Pleasant Days moving.**

**Don't forget to R&R! Apparently I'll be moving the ratings up from K+ to T in later chapters, since one of those reasons was due to the game's rating. **

**P.S.: I'm done correcting the first chapter. It seems there are a couple of mistakes in there, thanks **_**Clarissa Gavin**_** and **_**AuraChannelerChris**_** for pointing them out! The 'leg injury' was from an early draft, it seems I forgot to remove that segment before posting. One more final announcement, Pleasant Days will be updated weekly every Sunday starting from the first week of July, since school's about to start and I won't be as free as what I am doing now. **


	4. Recipes, Bonds and Farewells

**Disclaimer: Atlus owns Trauma Team (Or Hospital, in Japan) and the characters that appeared in the game. If I do own the game, I would be giving CR-S01 his true name one time in the game; Rosalia, CR-S01 and Albert will be living like a happy family if not for the virus. **

This wasn't the best day for the boys, all beaten up and pieces of meat dirtying their clothes all over as Clair, Jarek, Johnson and a friend of the latter en route to the principal's office. Clair was injured all over from head to toe, blood oozing out of his nostrils while the others weren't taking much damage as he was. No one is avoiding punishment when the principal hears about this.

"Come in, quickly!" shouted the old teacher, rushing for the boys to hurry up. She slammed the door, hoping that no one would dare to eavesdrop or attempt doing anything funny, period. As soon as the principal put the newspapers down on his desk, he took a good look at his students before commenting on their bad behavior.

The principal took a piece of paper from the tissue box and gave it to the red-eyed boy. "Wipe that blood out of your face." He ordered, smiling a bit. The boy did as he was told, throwing the blood-stained paper into the bin.

The reasonable authority figure cleared his throat before he began. "Well, boys. Mind explaining what happened at the cafeteria?"

All defendants, except Clair started at once, scolding the other parties for starting the fight and grew out of control when Jarek mocked Jackson a 'birdbrain dumbass', with the jock and his friend almost punching the gut out of him.

"Enough!" The booming voice ended the noisy argument and then pointed at Clair. "You go first. Tell me what happened at the cafeteria."

The boy nodded. "It happened at the beginning of lunch break, and I was just eating with Jarek alone. Then, Jackson punched me out of nowhere and that's how it started." He said, briefly and quickly. He brushed his injured nose, blood still flowing out of his nostrils but it was not as bad before entering the principal's office. At the midst of it, he jerked out of position as he clutched his arm, moaning in pain.

The principal raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." He lied, crossing his arms. He continued to hold his broken arms together in the same position. He gritted his teeth, trying to pull himself together before his condition gets worse with the pain unable to subside as the time flies.

"I've called all your parents to pay me a visit as soon as I heard the four of you fighting in the cafeteria." The principal started, flickering with his ballpoint pen. He was deep in thought on this grave situation, violence being the least tolerable thing he could withstand in the school.

The man then turned to Jackson, their eyes met and he knew exactly what to do. "Your turn."

"Well, Sir, Sartre did make a mockery out of me before our Algebra lesson began." He began. The old man stopped him, trying to recall what the blonde jock was talking about.

"Mockery?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And all because of a set of Biology notes Clair prepared."

Everyone in the room turned to the kid with his cap on, smirking at Jackson and had his eyes on him. "He's the one who started it and send my friend flying around the cafeteria right after the Biology test."

The principal took a good look at Jarek. "So, I just want to make this clear; this happens after the Biology test, which is lunch break. Am I correct?"

"Yes, Principal Carman. He was unable to take those Biology notes from Clair that he broke both of arms into two, as well as breaking some of my bones in my ribcage…"

"Oh you shut up, Steelbolt!" Jackson's friend snapped, pushing him to the wall with much force. "You did kicked his leg, don't you forget that-"

"Silence!" The principal boomed, adjusting his glasses before getting anywhere else. "The four of you, out of my office! I'll deal with you again after talking to your parents. It seems that they have arrived; Mrs. Parker, take them to the detention room." He waved his hand at the female teacher; she pulled Jarek and Jackson's arms, leading Clair and the other boy out of the office to the detention room.

* * *

Two hours has passed since they were first brought into the punishment room, as seconds seemed like painful minutes. Before anything happened, the red-eyed boy looked up at Jarek sitting along right in the middle of them room, his mind too clouded expecting his punishment that awaits him. Clair then makes a guess on the species of the butterfly at the window; and then heard a loud click at the door and turned to the professor, who was neither happy nor upset at his son. The principal, who was with the professor, too came in after instructing Mrs. Parker that he could handle the rest.

"Mr. Sartre, go home and take a good rest. You look awful with those injuries." The principal stick a thumb at Albert and then spun to the other three. "And you three…I guess I will have to suspend you for the next two weeks before you resume normal lessons. I've explained everything to your parents, and you are ordered to come to school and report to the detention room once you've arrived as safety precaution. If there's nothing else, I'll see you next week."

Just as the principal was about to leave, a man dressed in his oversized letterman jacket and track pants arrived at the scene just immediately. Huffing and puffing from the long run, he rushed into the room as he pushed the parents aside.

"What on Earth is going on here?" The coach demanded angrily. "Don't you know my star players are having a match next week? I can't afford to lose to Silver South at the last minute!" He pointed his clipboard at Jackson and his other player. "To the field, NOW!"

The boys did they were told, not before Jackson exchanged a sneer at Jarek. "Good luck surviving detention for the next two weeks Steelbolt."

"Say what? Why you-"

"That's it, or else I'll increase your suspension to a month, Mr. Steelbolt." Principal Carman yelled again, getting the last of his troubles to the parents. "I'll leave you parents on dealing with your children. Coach Rowan, come with me. It seems we need to talk about next week's match."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, as Clair listened to his only friend breathing slowly but heavily. The slightly tanned boy then leaves with his parents, the sound of footsteps fading away.

At the car, Albert applied some medicine to Clair's wounds, as well as placing a plaster on the bridge of his nose and wiping out the blood on the surface of his skin. With some of his wounds being exposed to the outer surroundings, the boy clutched his fractured arm whenever he felt hurt as the professor applied more medicine to his injury. Taking two pieces of bandage and a cloth, he tied a cravat bandage on his left arm and wrapped the bandage on the other.

"There…feeling much better now?" Albert asked, placing the items back into his first aid box. Clair touched his bandaged arm and raised his head.

"Are…you angry?"

Albert chuckled. "What for?"

"Getting into a fight in school today. Are you mad, or disappointed in me for getting myself into a fight?" He muttered, feeling dejected at himself. Always bringing others misfortune, he was asking himself if getting adopted by a nice man like Albert is doing more harm than good to himself.

The blue-haired professor laughed out loud, patting his son (Technically, stepson) on his shoulder. "Of course not. Why should I be mad when you're not doing anything wrong? It's all just a silly misunderstanding." He takes a look at his watch. "Okay, let's go. Good thing my lecture ended early today, or else you'll be stuck in detention longer than expected."

The final school bell rang across the entire perimeters, all the students dashed out of the compounds as soon the moment came. "I have to fetch Rosalia." He suddenly spoke up. Worried about Jarek's plight, he was actually looking around to find him but he could neither see him or his parents anywhere.

"We'll go together, eh?" The professor beamed and drove off to fetch his daughter back from school. "I'll be sending you to the hospital right after we fetch little Rose. Your injuries need to be treated as soon as possible. I only stabilized those wounds from inflaming further."

* * *

Rosalia looked bothered at home as she flipped through several cookbooks, picking which dish was easy enough to cook. She had been eating packed food from restaurants and diners for a week now, getting tired of eating unhealthy food all day long. Sometimes she had second thoughts of cutting them out of the book, but these books belong to Ms. Kelly.

There's Show and Tell on Friday to be worried about. The cootie incident had since died out in popularity as soon as she did her best in clearing up that crazy misunderstand, but Drew was still adamant towards her. On a positive note, she became fast friends with Matilda Lovewood, the girl sitting next to her in class. She wasn't very talkative, as she claimed that she doesn't talk much at home. It was rather difficult to see her face sometimes, her hair covering her face like an Asian ghost whenever she walked passed the noisy corridors.

Mmm…those mouth-watering dishes made the blonde girl hungry for more, despite having fifths for lunch during recess though that was led by her empty stomach (Cafeteria food simply wasn't delicious, but not that awful depend on the lunch lady's mood). The lack of a proper breakfast (Plain white bread does NOT count as a healthy breakfast, Mrs. Donaldson will say.) added up her painful hunger pangs. Somehow she felt like taking a bite out of those gastronomical dishes in those delicious cookbooks…

"Why are you drooling in those cookbooks, and where did you get them?"

Rosalia looked up front, seeing her father return from work and licked the saliva away from her lips. "Ohh…welcome home, Daddy."

Seeing her father once without his labcoat feels a little funny, wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase doesn't make him look like a professor one bit. Feeling weary about everything during work, he ruffled the girl's head, Rosalia laughing loudly in the entire living room.

"Is your brother home yet?"

"Yeah, he's studying in his room. He's been doing that ever since he came home." Rosalia chirped, looking up at the closed room. Albert had his attention at the colorful cookbooks as he thought about taking his children somewhere for a family walk, taking one of them to have a closer look. Knowing that he doesn't have those sort of books lying anywhere in his house (Mind you, he's a professor, usually having those virus-analyzing and chemistry books standing in the locked shelves.), he took a good look at each one of them.

"Pork chops, shepherd's pie, fruit cake, clam chowder…who give you these?" He asked, flipping through the contents.

"Ms. Kelly lends them to me." Her eyes were away from the man, with something on her mind. "Well…to be honest…I'm feeling a little tired having to eat out every day. I was thinking if I could cook all these myself, but I don't you'll be happy about it, since I'm a little too young handling this all by myself." She gulped, expecting the man to give her a frank 'no' on this one.

"Yes, you're a little too young. I don't want you to get hurt. Tell you what, Rose," he placed the books on the glass table, "maybe I should call a housekeeper to do this…as soon as I get Ms. Winstone out of the way. But for now, we're having another day out at the diner tonight." He left the room, not before giving Rosalia a little pat on her head.

The girl lounged on her couch for the entire afternoon.

* * *

Rosalia was bored. Really bored, and annoyed too.

"…so I decide to bring my new pet rabbit Lloyd for Show-and-Tell Day. Isn't he cute?" one of her classmates showed the photo of her pet rabbit, with all her friends crowding around her awed upon its unique appearance. The disinterested blonde girl glanced in Matilda's direction, the girl who seemed to have an idea what she is going to bring for Show-and-Tell Day.

"So…what are you bringing for Show and Tell?" Rosalia asked. The black-haired girl, for once looking a little happier today tapped on her photo of hers, a baby lying on his or hers mother's arms.

"That's my baby brother Mac. He's turning one this Thursday, one day before the big day. He's small, but he's smart." Beamed Matilda, passing the photo to her friend. "What are you going to bring for Show and Tell?"

Rosalia could only blink and look a tad confused. She had been wondering since day one. The people at the orphanage…no, that's not special enough. Her new family…Matilda's bringing her baby brother, doubted that her father and brother won't have time to make it. Dolls…she doesn't want to be called a showoff. It's hard to decide, plain bread really makes you nauseous for breakfast…

That's it! The greatest idea ever thought of for Show-and-Tell, Rosalia nodded, taking one of Ms. Kelly's cookbooks and search for a recipe for Show-and-Tell. No one's going to stop her, not even her father. A delicacy that was simple to make, least dangerous and of course, tasty.

Meanwhile, right after the last class in school, Clair head right towards the detention room, hoping or expecting to see Jarek sitting in the detention room alone. True, he wasn't the vocal type when it comes to social skills, but at least the thought counts. He took a small peek at the glass panel on the door, but when a teacher supervising his friend realized that the student was out there, she immediately pulled down a shade, along with the windows too.

Unlucky at a time like this.

Or perhaps Jarek doesn't want to see him again. He did overhear a rumor circulating around school this morning about his strained relationship with his parents after what happened at the cafeteria last week. As usual, people avoid having their eyes met his.

Clair filed those unnecessary thoughts away, turned and walked back home. No point meeting someone who doesn't wished to see you.

"HHEEEYYY!"

The boy looked up, only having to see his step-sister waving at him happily as always. _How did she come here? Oh, the short distance between his and her school. _He heaved a sigh again. "Shouldn't I be looking for you, instead of you coming here?"

Rosalia smiled. "I came here with Matilda together. She said she wants to see you, but her parents' needs her home early today." Indeed, she wasn't thinking ahead, but she did come here with a friend. It was too reckless of her to be thinking about things like these; some of those bullies in his school might take advantage of her.

He decided to close an eye on this one. "Let's go home. The professor won't be home early for the next few days."

* * *

That evening right after dinner, Rosalia started preparing the dish in mind, firstly by taking all the ingredients and utensils needed. Hopefully she can do this before Albert reaches home from work. Who knows what sort of punishment her father had in store for her if she didn't heed his instructions. Let's see here…one egg, a cup of milk and three cups of bread flour, a quarter-cup of water, so on and so forth, according to the cookbook. Not to forget the ground cinnamon and the chocolate chips she bought earlier on at the grocery store with her brother before heading home. You wouldn't want to miss those key ingredients.

She combined the three cups of bread flour, as well as pouring all the necessary ingredients to make the dough in the mixing bowl. She did made a soft mixture out of it, but the next step proved her wrong on how difficult, using a large amount of force, stirring the gooey stuff and turned it into dough.

Rosalia started off slowly, nice and steady with the wooden spoon stuck in her hand and the mixture. Even if her hands are sore after all that stirring, she knew that she still need to knead the dough before placing the finished product into the oven. She then poured the chocolate chips and cinnamon into the bowl too. Whenever she felt that the dough was too dry, she poured a small amount of water, bit by bit until she found the right texture for the bread. And if the mixture got too watery, she could always add some flour. Unfortunately for her, time is not on her side.

Stir, stir, and stir. All she ever did was stirring the mixture. As the mixture got too tough to handle, she accidentally let go of the spoon out of hand, as well as slipping on the slippery surface. The mixture in her bowl almost poured out, but just then, she could felt someone grabbing her at the back. The person did grab the bowl too, luckily nothing spilled out or else she would have to start all over again.

"What are you doing?"

It was her elder brother, feeling rather furious more on the mess Rosalia has created.

"Well, I was thinking of-"

At this very moment, someone slammed the door open. Hearing that familiar grumble, she knew that Ms. Winstone had paid the kids a visit again, straightening her vest before looking at what the kids were doing.

"I'm back, again and why are you guys making such a big mess in the middle of the night?" She asked as the heated woman stormed into the kitchen like a madwoman. "Oh Rosalia…aren't you a little too young to be cooking? Clair, please help put away everything. You don't want your father to see this horrid mess the moment he comes home."

Take them away? No…she had begged Clair to keep this from anyone and bought this entire extra load home just for the sake of cooking. Ellie did take a short visit a few days ago and now she's here again? It seems that every adult she met had pulled every hope down whenever she wanted to do something more helpful.

And no.

She will not let her efforts go down again.

"Ms. Winstone, please?" she begged, showing her innocent, almost crying face to greaten the effect. "I-I'm truly sorry for making a big mess in the kitchen, but maybe if you could supervise…" her sentence ends here, hoping that Ellie would pick up the right message. Please, come on now…

Ellie sighed, trying to endure her pouting face but she gave up on her case, seeing a well-behaved girl crying would be unsightly in front of her or worse, Rosalia's brother. "Fine, but if I see you do anything foolish or dangerous, I'll take over from here."

"I'll help too." The older boy cleared up the mess a little before getting back to work. "If there's something you need me helping, I'll be glad to assist you. C'mon, let's get to work before Professor Sartre returns."

That kept Rosalia's hopes up, despite Clair saying those encouraging words with a straight face. As the two kids stayed around the kitchen kneading the dough (while still having lots of fun spraying water at each other), the brunette began ranting about the days she first met Professor Sartre, along with explaining the tales about how Clair falling in his footsteps while cooking an omelet and the professor burning every single dish he made, save for any dish egg-related.

It took an hour for the bread to be baked completely. Taking the tray out with those heat-resistant gloves he found hanging around the cabinets, Clair quickly place them onto the metal rack, allowing it to cool for several minutes before serving. "Is it ready yet?" Asked Rosalia, ready to get her first touch on the freshly-baked bread but Ellie stopped her right just in time.

"You want to get your finger burnt or what? Wait for it to cool down. The bread won't run away." She slapped the girl's hand away from the food. After a while, Ellie took a bread knife, cutting each slice with precision. She placed the slice of bread very carefully onto the plate, making sure that not even a crumb of it will escape her nimble fingers. "Try it, you cooked it, you eat it." Rosalia got her hands on the bread and take a small bit on her first attempt in cooking.

It wasn't sweet like she had expected, but the texture was just right, giving off a pleasant aftertaste the moment she swallowed her first bite. Soon, Ellie and Clair joined in, each taking a small crumb on Rosalia's plate and then took the taste test.

"Well, it could be better, but good try on your first attempt." The red-eyed boy commented, a smile emerging on his face for the second time.

"Practice makes perfect." Ellie took another bite of the chocolate chip bread. "Nice…"

"So, there's a secret party going on here and I'm not invited?"

Everyone turned to the living room, seeing the exhausted professor taking off his shoes. "Well, it's a big mess right here, I guess you didn't listen to me this time Rose."

Rosalia felt a little frightened at Albert's sudden arrival. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I'll promise that I won't do it again."

"Well, then again I'm feeling hungry after a long day at the college…" Albert took a broken slice of the bread and tried it out. It took a few painful seconds to find out if Rosalia had passed her first 'test'. "Hmm…the blandness could get in the way…but aside from that, nice attempt for your first time. But you have to clean up the mess all by yourself."

"Sorry to cut those touching moments, professor, but there's something I need to tell you all." Ellie cleared her throat twice before continuing. "After your finals, I'll be leaving Cumberland. I'm living elsewhere somewhere in another country, since my boss asked me to."

Rosalia gulped. "You're…leaving us?"

"Yeah, you won't need me anymore, do you? I'm very sure the professor's happy to hear that, but he dare not spit it out. Oh well, I guess my stay in this family is over, hmm? Oh, one more thing, I'm taking this home with me as a memento for remembering you all…See you guys next week." The little girl did felt a sense of sadness in Ellie's announcement, particularly never to come back again. The door shut softly, unusual for a perky girl like her.

"It's sad for her to leave us on our own, but if you need to cook anything, you must have either Clair or my supervision before doing anything else. None of us is expecting to see the kitchen blowing up in the middle of the day." Albert lectured the girl, putting the plates away into the cabinet. "Now, let's clean up this mess."

* * *

The last bell rang as the final lesson of the day ends. Clair, carrying a small package on one of his hand walked all the way to the detention room, hoping that Jarek would forgive him for putting his best friend in trouble with the school rules.

"Come right in, detention's just ended." The teacher said, giving way to the student before leaving. Jarek was sitting alone right smack in the middle, scribbling on the extra piece of paper given for completing a truckload of schoolwork. He looked neither glad nor upset in seeing his friend again, doodling on the paper as Clair took a seat right opposite him.

The black-haired boy took the package and placed it on his desk. "My sister Rosalia made this for you, and for her Show-and-Tell session today. She put lots of hard work in making this." When Jarek did not pay much attention to him, Clair pushed the package closer to the other boy. "Try it; I don't want to see Rosalia making a big fuss when I get home."

The usually hot-headed boy dropped his pencil, opened the package and took his first bite on the bread. "Well…it's the best thing since cafeteria food." Having getting his drive back, Jarek finished eating it, smiling at his friend once more. "Thanks, I feel so much better now."

Clair tilted his head. "You're…not mad at me?"

"Geez, I'm not THAT shallow-minded. No, you did nothing wrong; Jackson was to be blamed for that." Jarek stretched his arms before continuing. "So, who won the match?"

"Not us this season. The Silver South won just by a few goals. I guess Jackson won't be happy about that."

At the same time, Rosalia presented her freshly-baked chocolate-chip bread to her classmates, distributing them to the entire class as they got their hands on them.

"I baked this bread early in the morning, with the help of my brother and father. It was pretty easy to bake, but without the help of my family, this wouldn't be made possible today…"

* * *

**1. Matilda Lovewood is based on, obviously, Matilda Wormwood from **_**Matilda**_**, by Roald Dahl. I got almost exactly all her (The original Matilda) qualities down for the Matilda here, except for her kind personality. She's (The Matilda here) more on the gloomy side, but she's quite a friendly person if you get to know her enough. And no, Matilda Lovewood **_**does not **_**have psychic powers. **

**2. In the actual recipe for the chocolate chip bread, baking requires a longer time but due to time constrain, I guess Rosalia/Clair heated it at a higher temperature. **

**Well, that concludes the chapter for today. The kids will be studying for the finals in the next chapter, which I will reveal a surprise that will lead to the next arc. It's shorter than the previous ones, since I would like to take a little break from writing bit by bit of each chapter every single day. I can't say how many arcs are in total, but I'll give you a clue; it's a single digit number. Too bad I can't be giving out internet cookies this time round. Like I said before, this fic will be updated weekly, July onwards (Or more specifically, until mid/late-July twice weekly.)**

**I'll try my best to make as little grammatical errors as possible, and I would like to find a beta-reader to beta-read my story before publishing it online. Anyone will do, so long as they can correct my grammatical error and suggest an idea or two in my story. Mind you, I haven't been writing good fics for almost 2 years. At least I'm dedicated now, I'll try to complete Anger Management ASAP (Stuck in writer's block on that one). **

**If you take a closer look at some of the details in this fic (Particularly in the early chapters), you'll realize that some of it are foreshadowing the other predictable events shown in the game. It's pretty simple if you pay a closer attention to those details. Of course, the Rosalia Virus will come into play soon. **

**Don't forget to R&R! One last thing before we end off this chapter with a right note: AN OMAKE!**

Omake 1: Wild Guessing Game (Don't worry, it's a short one.)

Almost a decade later… (I'm not so sure when Trauma Team began [i.e. the year], so I estimate it to the aforementioned timespan.)

Gabriel Cunningham: So, what do we have here?

Jarek Steelbolt: I'm a patient…and I'm sick. Wait wait wait, Cunningham?

Gabriel Cunningham: …so, yeah?

Jarek Steelbolt: You know what, let's play a simple game. I'll guess your first name based on your last name.

Gabriel Cunningham: *Turns to RONI* RONI, do I have anymore appointments before lunchtime?

RONI: *Checks database* Dr. Cunningham, there are no appointments until 3.30pm in the afternoon with Mr. Shelby.

Gabriel Cunningham: *Turns back to Steelbolt* Okay, you're on.

Jarek Steelbolt: Chuck?

Gabriel Cunningham: Nope.

Jarek Steelbolt: Michael?

Gabriel Cunningham: Nope. Guess again.

Jarek Steelbolt: Sephiroth?

Gabriel Cunningham: What, you think we're in some kind of video game here?

Jarek Steelbolt: I know! Foxy? You're cunning and all, so that must be your name, Dr. Foxy Cunningham!

Gabriel Cunningham and RONI: …

Gabriel Cunningham: Okay, ENOUGH WITH THIS NONSENSE! It's GABRIEL! GABRIEL. FREAKING. CUNNINGHAM! Get this straight into your head, Mr. Steelbolt. Boy…you head's hard as steel. But first, the diagnosis…so, tell me what's wrong with you today…


	5. Papers and Surprises

_Homework, homework, homework. That was probably all in the teachers' minds._

"Man, I'd rather go back to detention rather than sit in my room for the entire day doing this garbage." Jarek groaned, chucking all his homework into his bag. Clair sat in his seat without complaint, accepting all assignments given as he scribbled every single word on the blackboard: every single space of it was used up. "Talk about resilience." The lazier boy added another comment.

Clair had to admit, he was the studious type. The finals will be here in a week's time and there's no time for dilly-dallying as the hours fly like seconds. There's a lot to go through; English (Literature too), French, Science, Geometry, Advanced Algebra and Geography. He had yet to start on French; he was too busy memorizing facts for his geography paper, and he had to catch up with the fast-paced lessons in Advanced Algebra. Aside from those hiccups, he was fine with everything else. On Jarek's side, he was struggling with everything (Except foreign language, which he didn't take).

"Well, if you paid attention a little more in class, this wouldn't happen."

"Easy for you to say. I keep falling asleep whenever those slave-drivers are talking. It's hard for me to keep myself awake, after playing this awesome game-"

"See? The game won't run away. You need to have more self-control if you don't want to stay behind in eighth grade. You should feel lucky for receiving free education in this country, not many people in other countries are this fortunate." Clair spoke up. "I'll make sure I won't have to see Jackson; he's being childish again." As they were walking along the pavement, once again the jock was picking on a short girl with braces, who looked shocked with her schoolmate making crude comments about her.

Jarek sighed. "That's Jackson doing it again. I won't be surprised if he stays in eighth grade. Are you going to do something about it?" Clair's eyes were on the girl who was struggling helplessly for someone to save her. With no one willing to stand against the big man in the school, Clair was feeling uncomfortable being helpless at the situation, even having learned his previous lesson regarding his Biology notes. Nonetheless, the red-eyed boy took big steps, pulling the girl out of the way.

"You again? I guess you aren't afraid of dying, huh?" touted the jock, cracking his knuckles as loud as he could. The girl squeezed Clair's hand as hard as she could, whispering 'Run away, run away' to her savior before he got himself into trouble again. Clair took in a short breath; within his head he hadn't planned ahead of time what to do when he saved that girl.

In the midst of thinking, Jackson's eyes met his. Staring at him, the jock backed up a bit the moment he saw that murderous gaze, the implied intention of those red eyes wanting to kill him if he doesn't get the message. With a brief 'Fine!' he dashed out of the scene, leaving the shy girl, her protector, Jarek and some of the kids at the corridors. "What was that all about? It's like he's ready to kill me anytime," murmured the arrogant blonde as he walked away, cold sweat forming on his face.

Upon seeing Clair doing that unintentionally, the people either stepped back or moved away from the area, not wanting to get themselves into deep chaos. The girl then exchanged a small 'thank you' before leaving with her friends.

"Woah, that was some confrontation, pal!" Jarek hopped forward to his friend. "How did you do that?"

"I did nothing, really." Clair grimaced. It was either a good thing or a bad thing like always during his time when his parents are alive. Now that they are gone and won't be confronting him all the time about his strangeness, he was glad that he had such a loyal friend like Jarek, and a good father and sister like Albert and Rosalia. "C'mon, we should be heading home now."

* * *

It took Rosalia 40 minutes to solve a math problem. Good thing it was the last question in the practice test paper, but she knew she still need to work on her weak points.

"It's so tough having to solve one problem after another. Why are we learning math in the first place?" complained Rosalia to her father, who was pouring a cup of coffee in the kitchen. It was a Sunday and the first exams begin tomorrow, using up all the free time he had to relax and take a break from his hectic schedule.

"There's nothing difficult about math; I was the smartest kid when I was your age. There's a need for math when you grow up."

"Easier said than done, Daddy," Rosalia fumed, pouring a cup of orange juice for a hot day. There's still a couple of weeks till summer arrived, but it was already very hot this spring. Talk about freak weather control; Albert was forced to switch the air-conditioning on while watching the news. "I guess I'll have to try my best on my papers tomorrow. No use complaining."

A loud ring from his cell phone distracted his attention from the screen as Albert took note of the weather conditions in the country. Answering the call on a fine day, he speculates what was up with his fellow colleague, who usually turns his phone off during his off-day. "Hello? Sartre speaking." Albert left to his room soon after that, still leaving the television on as he speaks.

"Sorry to disturb you today, Professor Sartre." The caller began speaking. "Well, to begin, I've received some news from the American Society of Examiners and Physicians. Say, do your kids have anything to do this summer…?"

* * *

"Finally! The papers were sure tough, but I'm glad that this is all over." Jarek stretched his arms as he walked out of the school compounds, upon completing the last paper of the final semester. Swinging his backpack up to his front, the playful boy took out a CD case and passed it to Clair, who was looking bored as usual.

"So, what's that?" He took a closer look before saying anything else. "A war game?"

"Yeah, I played this game during my previous vacation. Couldn't stop until I ended up with a 100% completion. It's not the type of game where you mindlessly mash all buttons possible; I think you might like this one." Clair read the description of the game as they spoke, cracking the case and taking out the thin instruction manual of the game.

"Y-you're reading the manual? No one ever reads them; instructions are for losers."

"I need to know how to play it, right? Is this supposed to be normal before picking up the controllers? I mean, you need to know how to play the game. I doubt there will be tutorials in the game."

"Pal, you're so last century. An extinct specimen, you know that? But, at least you aren't like those guys who take their game a little too seriously." Coincidentally, a boy playing with his handheld game at the opposite of the street can be heard screaming 'Die! Die! Die!' continuously, even if people were looking at him. "Video game addicts," Jarek shook his head as he laughed. "I'm pretty sure you won't go gaga with the game."

"I never get attached to any games. What could happen?"

* * *

3 Days Later

"You didn't sleep last night? W-way to go, buddy!"

"Urg…my head's thinking of strategies on taking the opponent down." Clair said, clutching his head as his heavy eyelids fall every time he says something. "Now I know why people like us are scum of society these days. And I'm not like you; I played this game right after the finals were over."

"Speaking about finals, the report cards are out today. Damn, I'm scared shit about this. If only I'd studied more." Jarek said, rubbing his hands the moment he thought of holding his report slip. Unlike his friend, he wasn't much of the studious type, but who preferred hands-on assignments. He wasn't as clever as Clair was, but he really does know his stuff. If only paying attention in class didn't bore him to sleep.

"Too late for regrets now." The homeroom teacher, as old and cranky as she is, slammed the entire stack of report cards onto her desk, hard enough to create a man-made earthquake within the whole state.

"The good news is all but one of you will be promoted to high school this autumn," she said in the most boring way possible. The teacher adjusted her spectacles, looking very stern towards Jarek who was sitting right at the back of the class. "I'll distribute the report cards now. I'm so glad that I won't be seeing you kids again right after this. Sartre!"

Clair walked away from his desk, the first student called in the entire class. The teacher searched for his card, then shoved it to him. "Congratulations, Mr. Valedictorian. You are at the top of the class of this year. Any final words before leaving?" she asked, using that robotic tone since the time she entered. When asked to make a valediction speech, he had no idea what to say to the rest of the class.

"Well…I…err…hope to see you guys again this autumn. I have nothing else to say…thanks." One by one, the students received their report cards, as Clair counted. Every five seconds or so he could hear the teacher yelling 'Next!' continuously without stopping, now waiting for him impatiently with every passing minute. Remaining for Jarek's sake, he waited until his friend walked out of the homeroom, his head down staring at the floor. "How is it?"

The boy slowly raised his head and pulled off a cheeky grin, opening the report card as if it's a pop-up book. "Hahaha…I guess I will be seeing you again this autumn. No fails."

Clair chuckled. "Don't do that again. Wait till you enter high school; it's not going to be a cakewalk anymore."

"So, Mr. Valedictorian. I guess we won't be seeing Jackson anymore; he's the one who has to repeat eighth grade again next semester," Jarek told his friend, delighted that he did not have to stay behind in eighth grade again. Although he wasn't a nice person to everyone aside from his so-called 'friends', Clair could sympathized with him, all alone taking the same grade all over again, with none of his friends able to help him. "So, you going anywhere during summer break?" In the midst of deep thought, he could hear a familiar honk near him. It was Albert, with Rosalia waiting for him in the car.

* * *

"I'm so glad that you can join us, Mr. Steelbolt. Good thing it's the last day of school and we can have lunch together for the first time."

"You can call me Jarek, Professor." He said casually, sitting right in between Clair and Rosalia, a tiny girl very much shorter than he is. "Hi," he bent to the little girl's side. "What's your name? You must be Clair's sister. A cute one to boot."

"Hi, I'm Rosalia. My friends and my daddy call me Rose. And my big brother too," squeaked the blonde girl, feeling a little shy seeing one of her brother's friends. She didn't feel comfortable seeing a big guy like Jarek around; she only met boys around her height or age for that matter. Rosalia slipped her report card back into her bag quietly, not too glad about her progress in school.

"There's no need to be shy, I'm your br- Ow, and that hurts!"

"You do sound like a pedophile, Mr. Steelbolt." Clair mocked his only friend in his 'Albert-like' voice. The boy with the cap had his tongue tied; he had never seen him acting so protective before, not even in school. "That's gotta hurt."

"Of course it hurts you son of a b-"

"I don't encourage swearing here, especially if my dear Rose is sitting right beside you, Mr. Steelbolt." The professor said in his rare no-nonsense tone. It has become a habit for the children not to swear; Albert wasn't the sort that would swear to get his message across.

"Erm, Daddy?"

"What is it, my little Rose?"

"What's a son of a B?" the girl asked innocently.

Albert could swear that he will teach Jarek a lesson on never swearing another word in front of his sweet Rosalia, ever again…

* * *

"That was the best lunch I ever had."

It was nearly 4 in the afternoon, and Clair thought that it was a late lunch for everyone. He had not eaten much during lunch break in school, preferring to be alone (also thinking about strategies for his game too.)

"I have some great news, everyone." Albert wiped the chocolate out of Rosalia's mouth before continuing. "First, Clair has the highest score in his finals and Rosalia, you do make me proud even though you aren't as good as your brother." Rosalia blushed again, a bit ashamed of not doing as well as her brother.

"I'll try my best and be as smart as my big brother."

"And there's another thing I have to tell you." The environment turned serious all of a sudden, wondering if this was good or bad news in Rosalia's head.

"We're heading to Mexico."

* * *

**Aaaannnnddd that's the end of the Introductory Arc. (Not to worry, all the other OCs I've introduced in the previous chapters will have a chance to shine, character development included.) I would like to thank Clarissa Gavin for beta-reading my story; I was planning on post this on Wednesday, but since she did it earlier than expected, well, here it is.  
**

**Let me make one thing clear: I'm not American (Check my profile if you haven't), so I'm unsure how the education system and curriculum in middle school works. (Yup, Jarek and Clair are in the 8th grade, promoting to high school after summer vacation.) I figured out this in Wikipedia, so if anyone (or most of you) can make things clear about this, PM me. Need more reviews, alerts and favorites, please. Plus, the American Society of Examiners and Physician DOES NOT exist in real life. Just an organization I made up.**

**Sorry there wasn't much Rosalia for this chapter, I promise you that she will appear more often in future chapters. Also, I chose geography for Clair/CR-S01 all because of the scene explaining the Monarch butterflies to Maria in the last chapter. So I thought he had some knowledge about geography after all, so I changed history (originally) to geography after watching that part on Youtube. There's a reason why Albert doesn't like people coming into his room back in chapter 3, but you'll know why later on.**

**Talking about Math, I failed my Elementary Math (E-Maths, Cambridge paper) paper all the way to the prelims, until I got an A for my final paper with a little tuition my mother got me. Talk about weird. Before that, I have much difficulty understanding equations. And about the game Jarek passed to Clair, try guessing what it is. I give you another clue in case you haven't got it: It's a popular game, and a sequel had been in the market not too long ago.**

**From the next chapter onwards, I'll be changing the rating from K+ to T, due to violence (With awesome explosions and special effects) and some cursing involved (Yes, you'll see Clair curse once, but necessary.) I've been wondering about this for quite some time now, but is Albert religious or something, since he kept saying 'God' and stuff like that in the game?**

**Annnnddd back to my mother nagging at me to get my butt off the seat and workout all the way till school starts again. I am ugly in real life, with zits all over my face and with the extra tire choking the existence of my life.**

**Here's another omake for your (and my) amusement:**

Omake 2: (Not so) simple day at work

Maria: *Rushes to scene* Okay, now, just hold STILL. I'll need to cut your clothes to treat your wounds.

Male patient: *Gaze at Maria's 'assets' as she tore his shirt*. Man, you're hot… (Faints after seeing Maria's 'assets' jiggle, with nosebleed included.)

Maria: Hey, dude, are you all right? *Checks pulse* Great, I guess I need to resuscitate him, doing CPR right now. *Pounds on the man's chest.* Now to take some gauzes to get rid of blood on his nose…heyyyy! *Kicks the patient up to the sky* PERVERT!

Male patient: *Flying up in the sky* Ahhhh~! I'm enjoying this, I don't mind if I'm kicked up to the sky by a hot paramedic like her~

**Don't you (male players) feel like that sometimes? Imagine seeing her doing this while treating male patients.**


	6. Off to Mexico

_**Listening to: Trauma Team OST. Admit it; most (if not, all) of the tracks in the OST are full of awesomeness. Now I'm getting my motivation of writing this fic back. I would like to thank Clarissa Gavin once again for beta-reading this chapter.  
**_

Rosalia wasn't feeling good at all, sitting in between her father and brother on the plane.

She could feel her father fumbling on his seat dozing off, knocking to himself every few minutes or so. Her brother Clair wasn't faring too well either, after shutting the window to get in a good morning sleep. It was Rosalia's very first time on a plane, and her ears felt uncomfortable as she swallowed her saliva to get some audibility back. She could hear her heart pounding loudly, despite her tiredness. She did not have a good sleep the moment the plane take flight, especially with the rumbles of the engines.

Waking up in the middle of the night didn't help her condition either. It was a night flight; she was only told that they'd be traveling after sunrise yesterday. Traveling all the way to BWI airport, taking a trip all the way to New York, then take another flight from New York to Mexico certainly did not elevate her mood. After all, Albert's great 'surprise' turned out to be a business trip to Mexico; there's an important conference and talk he was supposed to attend, and, as you know, Mexico's healthcare services are one of the best in the world. It was not possible for him to leave his two children behind, so he decided to take them with him and let them have the best overseas vacation in their entire childhood.

Her first trip to Mexico City.

Plane food was actually quite good, more so than she'd expected, with a certain mindset that made the tiny girl thought that it'd be the same as cafeteria food. Unhealthy, oily and…it just tastes bad, worse than orphanage food. She imagined the plane ride to be exciting, but the adrenaline died down shortly after the plane managed to get its way towards the next destination.

Aside from a few magazines (mostly fashion magazines and instructional manuals in case of emergencies) to keep Rosalia company, she soon got bored with the listlessness. Something to think about…well, she could sense something weird about Ellie when she mentioned not coming back to Cumberland anymore.

Maybe the tiredness was making Rosalia thinking too hard. After all, this is her first holiday trip. Void of worries, full of happiness. Before long, she could hear a signal, reminding the passengers on the plane to put on their seat belts on now.

"Mm…good morning Rose." Clair mumbled, raising the window behind him slowly as he got up. "Put on seat belts?" He let out a small but warm smile, causing Rosalia to blush a little. She remembered the very first day her brother caught her eyes at the House of Hope, feeling that same thing all over again.

Albert woke up shortly after Clair did. "Good morning, kids."

"Good morning, sir. May I kindly remind you to put on your seat belt? The plane's about to land soon." The air stewardess greeted the professor kindly with a slight Spanish accent lingering in her speech.

"Oh, really?" Albert looked up and saw the seat belt sign lit on top, feeling quite silly having a woman to remind him of something small but important. "Thanks for the reminder."

The air stewardess smiled again. "Don't mention it. It is my job to take good care of my passengers." She said slowly and fluently, grasping on the English language as accurately as possible. The plane took a while to land after much turning and searching for the airport, causing some passengers in the plane to feel dizzy. Rosalia was no exception. Clair removed a box of pills out of his pocket, giving one to his sister.

"Take it." Rosalia got hold on the pill and swallowed it. The absence of water made it difficult for her to dismiss the bitter aftertaste, almost vomiting as soon as the pill entered her esophagus.

"Are you okay, Rose?" asked a concerned Albert after finding his dear daughter coughing loudly. Rosalia just nodded quietly, not to attract any unnecessary attention on the plane. Soon, the plane landed safely, leaving all passengers to wait patiently for further instructions before moving out to the arrival hall. Albert pulled a plastic bag out of his hand-carried luggage, handing simple face surgical masks to his children.

"Put these on. This is for safety precautions after a serious outbreak happened in Mexico a few months ago," Albert instructed as he put the mask on as well. It may made him looked like a weird man, but if it's for the sake of his and his family's health, he ought to do it to set a good example. He helped Rosalia to put on her mask before making their way out to the arrival hall. It took a long thirty minutes to process the family's passports into the country at its immigration site.

A breathtaking look at the Mexico City International Airport, the biggest airport in the country, sent the tiny girl in awe just by its sheer size and classy interior. Bustling with people all over the world, walking in and out whenever they please was what brought the world together. Directions in Spanish, English and various languages she met along the way confused Rosalia as they made their way to their next destination; fortunately her father and brother held her hands tightly, never to let the girl out of their sight.

After settling administration stuff and the collection of their luggage, the family first set off to hire a taxi to take them to the hotel they'll be staying at for the next ten days.

"I guess the return trip will be as long as our arrival trip." Rosalia admitted, stretching her arms as though she just woke up.

"Two more trips, to be exact." Albert said, smiling sweetly. "C'mon, in you go. We still have a long way to go before we reach the hotel."

Rosalia certainly missed her friends back at Cumberland. She felt so lonely in this new place, but Clair and Professor Sartre certainly made her feel at home.

It was another long trip to the hotel. The fact that none of them knew Spanish made communication difficult to the taxi driver; Albert got so frustrated at repeating the hotel's name for the 15th time that he took out the receipt (He did online reservation days before he and his children set off) and showed it to him. Rosalia once again witnessed the shiny skyscrapers in the city, some of them way taller than what she saw back home. Probably the only way to stay awake was seeing the colorful advertisements in a language she'd never come across, guessing the message of these billboards.

More time was taken to fill in the forms at the reception counter. Clair was reading his Big Black Book of Everything once again in his boredom as the kids waited in the lounge. Other rich businessmen were enjoying their moments, drinking coffee or tea, or reading the newspapers in this clear morning.

"I'm done with the registration; we have to unpack our stuff in our new room. Let's go." No one raised any questions as they made their way to their room on the 11th floor. Rosalia remembered the room number clearly: A113. That's a nice room number.

Inside the room, three identical single beds were lined up; the curtains were opened widely to allow fellow patrons to see the wide and tall skyscrapers, as well as its heavy traffic. After giving tips to the bellboy for helping with the heavy luggage, Albert called his children to come over, obviously with something important to tell them.

"I'll be leaving for a meeting this afternoon. I called someone I know very well to take good care of you two, so if you need anything, you can always tell him what you want." The professor took out a cellphone out of his pocket and passed it to his son. "Take this with you in case of emergencies. When I mean emergencies, I mean urgent or life-and-death situations, but I hope no troubles will ruin your summer vacation. Don't let Rosalia out of your sight; Mexico's a thriving place for high crime rates. Oh, and one thing I almost forgot." The professor took out a long slip of paper, passing it to his son. "Could you help me purchase these items? Man, Professor Twinklemind sure does love collecting weird stuff." Albert then turned to his watch, leaving the kids to do whatever they want. "He should be here any minute now."

Luckily there was still some time before the meeting; Albert drank up a few glass of iced water in this sultry hot weather. Meanwhile, Rosalia took a nice short nap, most probably suffering hours of jet lag back on the plane, and Clair was watching television (Unfortunately for him, most of the channels were in Spanish, with the exception of a few channels which was in English.) Soon, someone pressed the doorbell, leaving Albert to answer it. He peeled his eyes onto the door hole, grinned, and opened the door for the guest. An awaked Rosalia saw the person just outside the door. A man, about the same age and height as Albert, wore the typical business suit you see everyday, except that a tag was hanging around his neck, indicating his name, age and occupation. She could not see it clearly, as the lettering was small. He was tanner than all three of them in the room but contrary to popular belief about Mexican people, he didn't have a mustache like she usually saw in Mexican characters on serial dramas. His face was clean-shaven: much neater than Albert's, that's for sure.

"That must be your new daughter Rosalia you talk about every now and then." He approached the girl; Rosalia took a few steps back as he walked forward. He took out his hand from his pocket. "I'm Carlos Encargo, a friend of your father; nice to meet you." He turned to Clair lying on his bed. "And you must be Clair; you've grown quite a lot since I first met you. You two can call me Uncle Carlos if you want to."

He then explained his lateness to the three, having to deal with some administrative matters with his chief at the police station hours ago. The congested traffic in the city contributed to his problems, having to take detours in order to reach the hotel.

"But at least you came; that's what matters. And if you can excuse me, I have a conference to attend." Albert lifted up his briefcase and his lab coat, making his way towards the door. "I'll leave the keys to the receptionist, in case you kids come back earlier than expected." He then knelt down to Rosalia, hoping that she would understand her father having to do work during a sunny day like these. "I promise that I'll join you when my work is done here. Okay?" Rosalia nodded obediently.

"Have a good day," Rosalia chirped.

"See you later."

The door clicked shut as the professor made his way out of the building.

Carlos stood in silence, waiting for a response from the two children. "So, where do you want to go today?"

* * *

The three first set off to a souvenir store not too far away from the hotel. With Carlos's insane driving skills (Wonder how he passed his driving test in driving school), in less than five minutes during the ride Clair was forced to get himself out of the car and do his 'you-know-what' before returning back to the car. Telling the man to drive a little slower and carefully, the threesome finally reached the store. It was very fortunate for Rosalia to get some sleep back at the hotel before the trip, or else she would have missed out all the fun and excitement.

It wasn't particularly crowded, but there were visible customers trying out hats or fiddling with various toys found in the store.

The sombrero caught Rosalia's attention after looking at the items for a long time. The hat, however, was twice the size of a normal one found at the other parts of the store. She pulled Clair and made him try it out, while looking aloof at the same time. While Clair was distracted, looking at the mirror to see himself with the large hat (It was due to the sombrero's large size, which keeps falling off of Clair's head), the girl sneak a shot on her camera, snapping the only moment of his brother with the straw hat. It was then the older boy took notice and blushed in embarrassment.

In the end, the kids bought two normal-sized sombreros (Carlos figured out bringing that big hat home is quite troublesome during custom checks at the airport), several keychains, magnets, and spinning tops (Rosalia was sure that her male classmates would love them when she returned.) Carlos, Clair, and Rosalia moved around the city as the person-in-charge explained the culture and significant places in the country in the midst of driving.

"You do sound like a tour guide, Uncle Carlos." Rosalia commented in the car, while the policeman explained how the Angel of Independence, or El Ángel, as the locals referred to it, came about.

"I'm both a tour guide and your bodyguard, after all. Anyway, we'll visit the Angel together with your father once he's done with work. No fun going there without a whole family." For once, a talkative guy like him fell short of words to say. "Hmm…you want to know how Albert and I knew each other?" he asked, with a slight Mexican accent lingering as he talked. Clair and Rosalia nodded in unison, and Carlos went on ranting about his period of adolescence. "I was an exchange student back in those days, and I never knew anyone over there. To make matters worse, I could only speak simple English. Until I met your father, that is. We became best friends after that during my short stay there. Of course, we weren't very lucky with girls. But your father and I had a great hell of a time, so much that it sounds criminal. Not long ago I finally contacted Albert within some social networking website, and that's how I promised him to take good care of you during your stay here." He went on ranting about his wife, his first child (who's busy with summer school) and his second child, due in five months, after Rosalia asked about his family, with mixed feelings.

In fulfilling Clair's wish for once, Carlos took a long ride in driving the children to the next destination; the National Museum of Anthropology. Earlier on, he booked a place for all three of them, knowing that Clair would visit a place or two that is much to his liking. The sheer size of the museum frightened the kids a little on how they are going to cover all grounds for this important place, but Carlos assured the children to hold his hand. Not that he's being disobedient here, but Clair felt like a small child when he was asked to do so.

Carlos was not kidding about the large amount of people gushing in and out of the museum. There were lots of interesting exhibits to visit and getting past the large crowd could be a problem sometimes, especially when any one of them needed the washroom or grab some snacks to get by the trip. Clair snapped a number of photos during his trip, until he was warned by a passing curator to look at the sign, which said 'No Photo-Taking Allowed' loud and clear in English.

On the other hand, Rosalia soon got tired watching similar artifacts over and over again, slowing the group down. It took some convincing from Carlos, seeing more beautiful statues, learning more of the Mayan culture and for her brother's sake that got her legs moving. "I don't want to disappoint my big brother; I can't be selfish all the time."

It took another good hour and a half for the museum tour to end, including visiting the famous 'el paraguas' (the umbrella in English) and seeing the one, rare Aztec Stone of the Sun. Once the threesome reached the exit, a man selling various toys just outside the museum attracted the girl's attention: the doll that was in his hand. Cute, fluffily and adorable.

"Uncle Carlos! I wanna buy that doll! It looks so cute." Rosalia jumped excitedly, pulling Carlos's hand and dragging him towards the vendor. Seeing the girl bored and listless during the museum visit, he handed the man a few peso notes and gave the doll to Rosalia. She ran away with the doll as she dashed towards the policeman's car, a smile on her face formed as she swung it around.

"She must be really bored at the museum. Thanks for taking me here, Uncle Carlos." The red-eyed boy said, holding his camera to look at his photos.

"Well, most of the places we're going to visit soon are Rosalia's favorites. Enjoy it while it lasts. Let me take you somewhere great for lunch." Carlos knew what he was doing, having to take care of two kids (fortunately, not very hyperactive), actually wasn't an easy job for any adult. But like anyone would say, you can't please everyone.

* * *

**According to Wikipedia, in order for our heroes to reach Mexico they have to take a flight in Maryland's main airport to New York, then take another flight from there to reach Mexico. Now you know why Albert said 'two more trips back' to Rosalia early in the chapter. But on the other hand, I have no idea how Albert escapes with Rosalia to Mexico after the Cumberland College Incident took place. I mean, he's reported to be missing and no one sees him right after that. So how are he and Rose able to travel all the way down to Mexico without being caught by the authorities? The theory I have come up with will be explained in a very late period in my story later on. There are some things that bothered me in the game, plot holes? Seriously, ATLUS needs to create a sequel for this awesome game. Why bother making Naomi completely healthy at the end of the game, then no more cameos of the '6 doctor team'? The fandom demands a SEQUEL! And it must be better than the first game. They better not mess it up if they do.**

**Now we're officially moving on to the next and more interesting (Exciting is a more appropriate word there) arc, the Mexico arc. Well don't expect to see our heroes enjoying their vacation (and business trip) for the next 10 days. Okay, I rephrase that; don't expect to see them enjoying their vacation for the first few days. Things are going exciting from here onwards.**

**And no, I have never been to Mexico in my life. Perhaps I will when I earn some money and go on a trip there. The description is based on the data found in Wikipedia or from my imagination. So if anyone been to Mexico City before, PM me. Also, I add some quirky easter eggs in here, one of them is painfully obvious if you watch plenty of animated movies.**

**I will certainly do my very best NOT make this fic dead, like what I did with my other fics done in the past (Some of them has been deleted due to its sheer stupidity, I was young then) and try to update as much as possible. Thanks again for the comments that kept the fic going and me some motivation to complete this. I certainly enjoyed writing this fic, if only I didn't have time constrain or my school life bothering me too much. Talking about school, I really, REALLY, REALLY need to study hard for my (two) diplomas, or else my scholarship will be revoked. Yes, this is serious business it's not even funny. **

**So, you can't guess correctly what the game Jarek passed to Clair in the last chapter? Very well, here's another clue: It's not a PC game. That's enough for now; otherwise everyone will take my internet cookies away. T.T C'mon, it's not that hard to guess. You just have to think flexible, think outside the box. It's a game you hear every now and then, but not so much currently if I have to admit. **


	7. Odd Speculations

**Disclaimer: Atlus owns Trauma Team (Or Hospital, in Japan) and the characters that appeared in the game. And…you know what I'm going to say next.**

**All speech in Spanish will be marked with brackets, while the rest of the conversation will be unmarked.**

**Note: The story is rated T now. With blood and some profanity involved in later chapters.  
**

The programs in Carlos's self-made itinerary were proceeding smoothly, as he drove Clair and Rosalia from one place to another. From the museum to a café the policeman knew of for a quick break, ordering two cups of cold chocolate (Why drink hot chocolate in summer?) which the country is very well-known of.

Rosalia, however, thought that the trip will be way better if her father could come along.

By the time the threesome reached the hotel, it was already late in the evening. Tapping a certain slightly sleepy boy upon reaching their so-called temporary home, Clair soon get himself out of his trance and took his sister's hand. Albert was already in the room the soonest the kids returned to their room. Not many words were exchanged, seeing everyone worn out for the day. Before Carlos left, he called his friend out to the narrow corridor, albeit with something to discuss with him.

"So, was there anything wrong during the trip?"

"Not really, but I guess Rosalia's not enjoying as much as I would think she is. I was thinking if the trip's a bore to her without you around. And I haven't even cover one-fifth of my itinerary."

"We won't be going to too many places in our ten-day stay, Carlos." Albert snatched the sheets of paper, flipping and speed-reading the entire itinerary before shoving it right back at him. "Back to the point, I promised Rose that I'll be with her after I get work done here. Boy, today's conference was sure hectic, so many things going on my head. Now if you can excuse me," The professor pulled himself up by holding the wall. "I need to grab some painkillers from the room and go to bed. It's already 11p.m. and like you said, there's a lot more ground to cover tomorrow."

With the short revelation, Albert slammed the door shut, placing the 'Room Service' tag, written in Spanish on the doorknob. Carlos let out a small chuckle, helping him flipping the tag before leaving. Perhaps the hot weather had made everyone grouchy and off-key, he thought as he left the compounds. Not that he had some trouble along the way.

A good day, one way or another, to start the children's summer vacation.

* * *

The next day was plagued with phone calls, clueless hotel service staffs and extremely loud alarms.

This got Albert all in the mix of startled, frustration and in the midst of self-reproaching himself. He was extremely late for his talk with an entire student body of a renowned medical school in Mexico, and he has yet to dress himself up for the special occasion. In less than five minutes (including brushing his teeth), he chucked his sleepwear out on the floor and switched to his proper work suit. _I could do my tie on my way there, _he thought as he rushed out of the room, not before carefully taking the correct briefcase for work. (Of course, why would he do stupid things and grab the wrong briefcase for work?)

"Carlos, I'm sorry for disturbing you late in the morning, but could you take care of my kids once again?

"Of course, pal. I'm coming up right now…and have a good day."

It was the only exchange given by the two adults for the morning. As soon as Albert got a taxi just outside the hotel, Carlos made his way to room A113 who realized that the room is unlocked and seeing a couple of hotel service staffs holding a tray of cereals and milk as he stood at the corridor. In the room, he saw a sleepy Rosalia and a half-awake Clair in their identical white sleeping apparel.

"Okay, kids, wakey wakey." He shook the pale girl, holding the precious doll Carlos bought, out of the bed. "Your father's just left to let me know that he's out for his talk at the medical college. He'll be back in the afternoon, if he's ahead of schedule. Breakfast's waiting for you." Acting like the children's own babysitter or social worker, the Mexican took out a set of clothes each for both children, while ignoring the presence of the hotel staffs standing in a corner.

After they were done with breakfast, Carlos led Rosalia and Clair into the car and drove them to the police department. No one talked much during the trip and the only good thing that kept this going was that Carlos wasn't driving like a maniac (Much to Clair's relief. Very much.) Afraid of keeping the children bored for hours, Carlos tuned the radio, switching its frequency and stopped as he heard the daily news.

"(…moving on to local news, syndicate leader [] has once again been in the run from the local police forces for smuggling of drugs in the country, as well as selling illegal weapons in the black market…)"

Carlos switched off the radio, when he did not saw the kids response to anything. The crime rates has been steadily increasing in Mexico ever since the anti-drug campaigns began, he could hear people on the streets gossiping about women and children being abducted frequently. To put matters worse, not many people had reported these offences to the police. This was understandable; the authorities are known for being corrupted, especially outside the city. But of course, Carlos was far from being corrupt; his wish to join the police force was to change its bad image. It might sound very idealistic, but it's better than worsening the conditions in the city.

Nonetheless, he drove Clair and Rosalia to the Federal Police, where all policemen gather and report criminal activities.

"Stay here; I'll come back as soon as I settle things here. Don't go anywhere else." He warned the children, telling them to stay put in the office, with hundreds of busy policemen in uniform scattering around doing their job and answering phone calls. He left soon afterwards; the kids are all alone by themselves.

Rosalia could see all sorts of people walking around, some are friendly talking to themselves and others look suspicious despite wearing the dark blue uniforms. She swear she saw a policeman with small beady eyes staring at her, her instincts calling her to hide behind her brother. Clair immediately responded to his sister's reaction and let her be.

"They're policemen, but they don't look friendly." Rosalia couldn't help herself but whispered to her brother.

"Of course they don't. We're not in Cumberland anymore." Clair responded back. He turned to see the office Carlos entered not far away from him, the silhouettes under the blind made it easily to differentiate who. One of the people inside was Carlos; the other person was obviously the superintendent, screaming hysterically at him in Spanish. The argument got so heated that even a confused Rosalia could hear the two of them inside the office. "It'll be over soon, don't worry." He helped to calm his sister down, until the argument between two officers has ended.

A frustrated looking Carlos stormed out of the office, and while placing some documents on his colleagues' desks, he turned back at a frightened Rosalia, still cowering on her brother's back.

"We could hear you clearly arguing with the superintendent." Clair said, without any shift of tone. Carlos let out a smile after that, kneeling down at a frightened Rosalia.

"It's…nothing really. Just some stupid misunderstandings regarding work. I'm having a short break too, so we can't waste anymore time here. We'll go to the zoo, shall we?" Clair knew that the man have yet to given up on the problem, knowing that the matter discussing moments ago was a huge one. Well, that's none of his business; people older than him may claim that he's still too young to understand what adults think. Ignorant is bliss, for now.

It was a good idea for the three of them to get out and enjoy themselves at the zoo, pushing their unhappiness aside for later. Meeting up with animals they never got to see back in the United States, such as the beluga whales with big foreheads swimming around the aquarium with its calves; as well as the Humboldt Penguin, looking different than most penguins they seen in documentaries and morning cartoons. With black beaks, and a touch of pink between its face and beak, the birds went flapping their wings as they walked towards the pale girl. Leaning against the glass panel, Rosalia stared at the Humboldt with its beak knocking against the panel.

It looked adorable, with its look of curiosity cocked the penguin's head. The threesome looked around the zoo, but Clair was less enthusiastic, as he had seen every single animal in the zoo during geography lessons (also with the help of his Big Black Book of Everything) but nonetheless he was happy to see his step-sister jumping for joy as she pulled Carlos, pointing at the panda on some playground equipment provided by the zoo.

Afterwards, the children were invited to a show with every other keen visitors waiting for the show to start. Everything else was in Spanish, but despite the language barrier, she and Clair enjoyed themselves to the fullest (Rosalia wasn't sure if her brother felt the same way as she was, seeing her brother with a straight face throughout the trip so far). When the show needed a volunteer, Rosalia was picked out of the humongous crowd, with the bird swopping down onto her head as if it was sitting on its own nest. She felt embarrassed after that, but with the host convincing her that it was normal, her short-lifted embarrassment swept away.

Not far away from the zoo, the kids went to the park next to take a boat ride around the lake. Watching the breathtaking view of the park, Rosalia tried finding little critters living around the bushes, hoping to snap some photos of animals living around the lake.

"You might want to turn the flash off, you might scare the animals." Carlos whispered and the girl heeded his advice. The trip went on as usual, until Carlos heard his phone ringing. Trying to move back from the crowd, one wrong slip on his foot made him fell off the boat with his cell phone floating at the lake. Everyone got up and went back to see what was going on, seeing a wet and moody Carlos was being pecked by ducks.

"I guess my phone's done for." He shook his phone, trying to remove the water out of the device. Soaking wet with a towel wrapping around his lower half, he grabbed another shirt provided by the staff at the park. Clair took a closer look at Carlos's phone, trying to switch the phone on.

The boy shook his head with disappointment. "You need to buy a new phone, Uncle Carlos. A replacement, if you need it as soon as possible." He tossed the faulty phone onto the table, and then finding three tickets on Carlos's wet trousers in his pocket. Having to see the tickets damaged, Carlos took them out, trying to dry them.

"I guess the ice-skating concert's off. I was planning to take you kids out for a concert, but since the tickets are wet…" He left the sentence hanging, feeling extremely distressed at the following events happening today. "I'm…sorry."

"Don't say that." The two turned to Rosalia, hearing the entire conversation at their backs. "I don't mind if Daddy's not here to join us today. I really enjoyed the trip today; I should be the one saying sorry to you, Uncle Carlos. I was being selfish."

Carlos tried putting up a smile on his face, ruffling Rosalia's short hair. "It's okay. You know what? Let's go to the amusement park. It's not very far from here. You will definitely love this…"

* * *

Thousands of screaming children, teenagers and parents were already taking up rides when Rosalia, Carlos and Clair arrived, light music covering up the constant shouting and chaos in the amusement park.

"So, where do you want to go first?"

Rosalia looked around, trying to find a suitable place to start. Roller coaster rides…no. Too scary. Even if she dared to take the ride, she was too short to take the roller coaster. What about Teacups...no. She doesn't feel like spinning around. Bumper ride…no. Too bumpy. Finally, she saw colorful ponies rising and falling as they spin around joyfully, as if it was the perfect ride for her.

Carlos had other things in mind. He looked at the loud ice-cream man trying to sell his ice-cream nearby. "Okay, you stay here. Your brother and I will be right back with ice-cream. Don't go anywhere, and if a stranger approaches you, don't accept his offer, no matter how tempting it is. We'll take the merry-go-round after that, I promise." He patted the girl's back before pushing her brother towards the ice-cream man.

Alone with her doll she bought yesterday accompanying her; she started playing with it and watched the merry-go-round spinning round and round. Her thoughts were filled with her and the professor sitting in one of those ponies, what pleasant memories. _The ride's great with Daddy around, not that I'm being fussy or anything…_ Without knowing that she was being watched as a girl a few years older than her had all her attention at the doll Rosalia was playing with, pulling her mother towards the girl, who wasn't looking very glad.

"(…Mummy, I want that doll that girl is carrying. Can I, can I?)"

"(No, Berta. That doll does not belong to you…wait, Berta, what are you doing? No, come back here!)" The mother called out to her assertive daughter, who was running quickly next to Rosalia, immersed at the merry-go-round bopping up and down. She tugged the door aggressively, which surprised Rosalia as she too pulled her doll back to her arms.

"Give…me…back my…doll." It was a one sided battle as tiny Rosalia was losing her possession of the doll Uncle Carlos bought for her yesterday.

"(Mine! Mine!)" Berta screamed as she pulled the doll so hard that she almost had the toy tore into half. Despite knowing the obvious that she's losing, Rosalia used full force to get her doll back. She managed to pull the doll back to her side, but when she realized that she only grabbed its head, she raised her head, looking at the white powder bursting up in the air. Soon, Berta's mother got hold of her daughter, reprimanding her spoiled behavior on talking someone else's belonging.

Rosalia then felt a part of her disconnecting the rest of her body. She looked at her hand, paler than usual, with the white powder sticking onto it. At the same time, Clair and Carlos, carrying three cups of ice-cream had returned from their visit to the ice-cream man.

"We're back. Why is there white powder on your hand?" Clair asked as he grabbed and looked at his sister's hand.

"Erm…Uncle Carlos, why can't I feel my hand?" Rosalia asked, about to cry when she can't feel anything on the powder-covered palm. Carlos looked down on the ripped doll; he knew he saw this powder somewhere. When did he last saw something very familiar like this…?

Are these…drugs?

Carlos had no time to think, his eyes wide open with a mixture of anger and surprise. Men in civilian suits then removed their shotguns in their pockets and started firing gun shots out of nowhere, leaving scared children and adults running amok of their lives. Carlos did that much earlier as he pulled Rosalia and Clair away from the standoff, but before he could find a place to hide, one of the men pulled Rosalia on her numbed hand. Reacting on his instincts, her brother fought back by tugging Rosalia on her shoulders, stepping on the man's shoe to release his sister immediately. Carlos managed to pull a punch on the man's face before bringing them out of the battlefield. Without his handgun with him, he was obviously in a great disadvantage over the hectic situation.

"What's going on?" A confused Rosalia asked the policeman.

"Save the talking later, we need to get out of here-" Suddenly knocked out by another man, wearing a blue shirt with a sharp crowbar on his hand, Carlos stumbled on the floor, his head oozing out blood as it spreads around the surface. Clair was planning to pull his cellphone out for aid, holding Rosalia as near as possible to him as the children were stuck in their current circumstances.

Unbeknownst to the children, they were grabbed from behind and realized that they were ambushed.

* * *

Albert was finally glad that the talk ended before schedule as he walked down the hallways of the polished and clean medical college. Placing the last of his documents back to his briefcase, with the majority of college students were able to understand fully of everything the professor had presented.

"Sir, wait, sir!"

He turned, having to find an eager student chasing after him. In contrast with the other Mexican students, he was paler than most of his classmates. At this time most of the faculty is hanging out for lunch, but this particular student was catching his breath, carrying two encyclopedia-heavy books on his lap.

"I'm sorry for taking your time by talking to you." The medical student began, speaking with a heavy accent. "I find your talk very intriguing, Professor. So, you're a surgeon?"

"It's okay; I still have lots of time to spare. Actually I teach virology and pathology in Cumberland College." Albert replied, strolling alongside the student at the hallways. "You have plans enter-" He stood still, thinking that he was either hallucinating or was seeing this for real. A familiar woman, no less than thirty, walking pass the gates of the medical school. She was whiter than before, she wasn't this white the last time he saw her.

Ellie Winstone.

"Sir, are you all right? Sir?" The medical student tried catching the professor's attention, his mind filled with the social worker's presence here. Albert then realized that the student was actually calling out to him and then turned his attention to the eager adult.

Albert massaged the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "No…I'm sorry. What was I saying again? And did you see a lady walking pass the gates?"

The puzzled student shook his head. "I think it's all in your head, professor. I didn't pay much attention in front of me, I apologize. You were talking about my plans entering somewhere, am I right?" Albert chuckled softly to himself, finally thinking that everything was in his head; he was so tired after all for planning these talks and visiting conferences nowadays.

Albert turned to his watch, looking at the time. "I have to go now, but if you have any enquires you can call me by this number, or you could e-mail me. Unfortunately I don't have a computer with me right now and I promised my daughter and son that I'll be with them. After all, it's the summer vacation and I have to spare some time for my kids."

"I understand, professor. See you soon." The student waved before leaving elsewhere, beaming with delight as he could have a personal talk with the professor. As the professor was about to hire a taxi, he could felt his cell phone vibrating from his pocket. _Who could it be?_ _Surely the kids are having some trouble with Carlos?_

The blue-haired professor answered the call. "Hello?"

"Professor Sartre, help us! Uncle Carlos's unconscious, Rosalia and I…AAAHHHH! MMmmmmmmm!" To stop them from struggling and reveal their plans further, the men placed cloths with chloroform placed on their faces, forcing the children to slumber as their consciousness seeped out of their minds. Albert could hear the cell phone dropped from the other side, after that he could hear someone crushing the phone.

"Son, don't hang up…SON!" Finding him the line on the other side was disrupted; Albert rose from his lethargic state and grabbed the nearest taxi he could find.

Pulled the passenger away from the taxi as he got out and fumbled onto the back seat, "Bay Hospital, NOW!" was all he could say, despite the taxi driver having some difficulty understanding what the professor was saying. Slowly, the taxi drove off to Bay Hospital.

"Don't die…Rosalia, Clair…Daddy's going to save you two…"

* * *

**Many thanks to fellow Mexican fanfiction writer Kumarafan-06 for providing various facts about Mexico. If you're reading this, thanks again! I never expect someone helpful like her will response to my Author's Note in previous chapters. I'll add more details you gave me later, 'kay? This chapter is a little longer than some of the previous chapters; that's why I've been taking so long to finish this.**

**The places our characters are visiting are around Chapultepec, at the outskirts of central Mexico City. Best of all, the places Rosalia visited aren't too far away from each other. Not to worry, they'll come back again after I'm done with a couple of chapters. Bay Hospital is NOT a real hospital, I made that up. Getting off-topic, it's a good thing that the FBI headquarters are in between Maryland and Virginia (Yeah, you should know that I'm not American already, so I was surprised when I found this out.) Hehehe…I have something better in store for you readers for the next couple of chapters… **

**This marks the change of tone in this mostly-fluff fanfic. And this is not the end yet; there are still many more of these intense moments to come as we go along. Sorry I got this chapter way longer than expected; better than publish a rushed, crappy work, right? I was tired of publishing 2 chapters in a week, so I decided to take a short break. I apologize for the belated update; even a writer needs a break, right?**

**Now to go kill some mosquitoes, my legs have been itching for quite some time. Still can't figure out what the game Jarek gave to Clair? Well, here's another clue: This game is developed in Japan. It should be easier now to figure it out. And no, the game's not Call of Duty. The game's not developed for the PC either. **


	8. Criminal Games

It took a couple of twists and turns before the taxi could reach Bay Hospital, after all the traffic in the city was congested all day long. Albert was not pleasant one bit upon hearing his children kidnapped by some thugs in an amusement park. But right now he needs to visit Carlos, who was unconscious after knocked out by an unknown man, most likely related to the thugs who took his children away.

"Keep the change." Albert said, pushing a couple of notes towards the taxi driver before rushing towards the building. Like any other buildings in Mexico City, Bay Hospital is as tall as the other skyscrapers seen around the area.

He couldn't care less; he only wanted his children to have fun. It was entirely his fault, if only he could push work away and tend to his children for a short while, this disaster wouldn't have happened. _What a bad father I am, _he reproached angrily as he took a few steps out of the lift.

Popping out of the room suddenly, Carlos, who was half-bandaged and bruises appearing out of nowhere on his face, his left eye half-opened, saw a worried Albert and turned away. Attended by a nurse, he was aided towards the reception and took a seat there. Instead of being angry at his friend, Albert asked in a soft-spoken voice. "What happened to my son and Rose?"

"I'm afraid they have been taken away by that bastard's subordinates." A frustrated Carlos then banged his fist onto the wall. "I'm…sorry that I couldn't save them. My gun's with my boss right now, if only I held on to my gun before I left the police station."

Albert patted his shoulder, looking quite concerned with his friend's well-being. "No point crying over spill milk." The professor then looked around the hospital and lowered his head. "Right now we got to inform the police about this. It seems you have an idea the person involved in this case." He turned to his bandages, wrapped around his forehead. "Are you still able to work with your conditions?"

The policeman nodded. "It's just a flesh wound. But the doctor said I have to avoid over-straining myself. So, you know how to use a gun?"

* * *

He could felt the bumps and the rough road tracks as the van moved towards the hideout, as the boy started regaining his conscious and posture.

Still under the influence of the chloroform, Clair could barely keep his eyes open, finding his sister and himself with their hands and legs tied. He tried shaking those shackles out of his wrists but failed as his half-opened eyes witnessed the burly thugs keeping an eye on the both of them. He attempted in turning to see if Rosalia was all right. Glad that his sister is sound asleep, oblivious to the situation they are in, it was best to keep her in this state or risk finding out what those criminals were up to. As long as she's safe, Clair then rests his mind for a short moment.

That white powder on Rosalia's hand, Clair was sure it was cocaine all right. By the book he read most of the time, coming in physical contact with the drug caused numbness to the exposed area.

"_Those guys must be smuggling large amounts of cocaine into and out of this country." _Clair quietly assumed, if his guess was right. Knowing that his head still feels woozy from the side-effects of the chemical, he leaned closer to Rosalia, preventing the mobsters from doing more harm to her. There was still a small amount of the chloroform smell lingering when he almost took a step into the sea of unconsciousness as he set his mind to slumber. The van soon stopped upon reaching the hideout, carrying their latest 'catch' into their warehouse.

With boxes of cigarettes (some packets of illegal duty-free cigarettes were found lying on the floor) disguised as snacks packed in ordinary boxes, the unconscious Rosalia and half-conscious Clair were soon joined by other children, around the same ages as them who were like the two children, unconscious and unaware of their surroundings.

"(Better take a longer look at those kids. Who knows what sort of pranks those little devils are up to when we aren't supervising.)" Clair had no idea what those men were talking about, but they were definitely up to no good.

"(Boss is coming to look at those kids real soon. I won't let them get away until we're done with transporting the drugs. Don't worry; I'm not that dumb like those thugs do on TV.)" Clair could see the steel door shutting slowly as the light of the setting sun slowly dissipated, with only him, his sister, many sleeping kids and him all alone in this dark room. The thug then took a flashlight out of his pocket, staring sinisterly at a pale Rosalia, who stands out most from the other children.

"(Well then…)"

* * *

"(…accident that happened in an amusement park, el Papalote, with 11 casualties, with all victims injured and no deaths. Based on witnesses' accounts, two children have been reported missing, the police had a possibility that they have been kidnapped by people connected to drug lord Francisco Oropeza Muñoz, also known as 'El Paco' by…)"

The superintendent hated to be interrupted by naïve newcomers during an emergency meeting, switching off the television as Carlos entered the conference room. Sweaty and puffing as he was, the superintendent growled softly with his lateness.

"(Sit, quickly. I hope you are feeling okay, as I'm going to put you in charge of this mission, since you damn know well about the two hostages that have been taken away by El Paco's men.)" The way he said it was extremely harsh, but he knew well what his colleague could do at times like this.

"(Yes, sir.)" The man turned the lights off, pulling the screen down and presented mug shots of two men that the police immediately identify. One of them had a scar on his forehead, his messy hair covering it up. With a round face and a suspicious-looking mustache, most of them knew that he wasn't up to something good. The limp on one of his leg does not speak well of his reputation either.

The other criminal, however, was much thinner looking, taller and was younger than the first criminal shown. Despite looking amiable, he had the look of a person with a few words, his eyes glaring heavily at the camera when the mug shot was taken. His body figure implies that he's a charismatic person; his neat hairstyle also boosted his image as a composed man.

"(We're dealing with two syndicates this time, with Francisco Oropeza Muñoz, also known as 'El Paco', as the prime suspect for kidnapping two children and hurt innocent civilians at the amusement pack near Chapultepec.)" He whacked a cane onto El Paco's image, grinning proudly, hoping that this would keep his team alert for the upcoming mission. "(Intelligence found out that those dolls they were selling at various spots around the city has a large amount of cocaine in it. This also means that we have to deal with the other drug lord, Leonardo "Leo" León González, nicknamed 'El león del desierto' or 'Leo', who started selling those dolls in the first place.)" He continued towards the next slide, showing the dolls that are exactly what Carlos bought for Rosalia yesterday.

"(I'm afraid that we have to put a stop on their activities once and for all on this mission. To prevent drugs to be smuggled to the United States before tomorrow, 00:30 hours, I would expect you men to be ready for any sort of danger.")

"(Yes sir!)"

"(Good. We shall split ourselves into two teams; those working under me shall infiltrate Leo's hideout at the National Park before his syndicate could smuggle those drugs out of the country. The rest shall join Officer Encargo at El Paco's hideout, which Intelligence will inform you of the location later on to save the two hostages. No further questions, dismissed. Officer Encargo, I would like to have a word with you.)"

The meeting was swift, as the other policemen moved out of the conference room. Albert, who was waiting outside patiently, turned to the clock, still without any idea what Carlos and his boss wanted to do. _Maybe those two are hatching a plan to save my children,_ he thought as he waited quietly. There wasn't any time to waste, with Albert started imagining what those thugs could do with his precious kids…

"Albert, not to worry. I'll save Rosalia and Clair, though there's something to worry about. We're short handed on my side. But we'll do our best to save your kids." Carlos had just finished his conversation with the superintendent, sitting next to his buddy, passing a can of cold soda to him. The worried professor gave him a short 'thanks' before gulping all its contents down to his throat. It was thirst-quenching, but something doesn't feel right. A concerned Carlos then asked, "Something still troubling you? C'mon, I promised that we are going to save both of them; they'll be fine. El Paco's not the type who hurt children."

"I'm not worried about my kids. I think I failed as a father, not being able to give my kids the best for them. Good riddance to my work lifestyle. What sort of parent I am? Heh, I guess this is my retribution by God." He said, crossing his legs and placed his arms to the back of his head.

"Actually, I had it worse. Remembered what I told you about me being happy with my family? I…wasn't telling the truth." Carlos quickly finished up his can drink before continuing. "Let's see…where to start…aside from having a second child, Laurita and I had been fighting over the smallest things, from Priscila's school fees, to me having an affair with another woman. She's a pain in the ass sometimes, why can't women be a little more open-minded?"

He didn't realize that his friend's marriage was almost crumbling into bits. He was always so happy whenever he replied to his e-mails, showing the couple happy and joyful without any problems at all. "Boy, you had it hard. I must be lucky then."

"And good for you having two kids who loved you the way you loved them. But, at least I finally know the reason why you became a bachelor in the first place." Albert took Carlos's words as a compliment. Well, he knows that he isn't the only man facing with the ordeal most men have to face, lightening his heart a little.

Albert had this last question in mind. "So, are you planning on filing a divorce?"

Carlos shook his head, albeit reluctantly. "I'm not too sure. Sometimes I feel that without her on my side, my life seems to contain no meaning. And if she's on my side, I feel like suffocating. I'm confused myself." Carlos said as he massaged and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Couldn't decide if I would want to file a divorce or not. But for the sake of Priscila and my second child, maybe I stay married for the time being. Just thinking of your children sometimes slows down your life a little, if you feel like looking back at those good time. It's not as if you're going to die if you can't make a concrete decision now."

At the midst of the idle conversation about their lives for the moment, a young man, mostly implied to be a colleague of Carlos too by the tag hanging on his neck walked passed the guest and his colleague. Carrying an A4-sized brown envelope with a grim facial expression, Carlos knew that this wasn't good news.

"(Sir. I have received a report from Intelligence about the case of missing children that has got to do with the incident at el Papalote. Coincidentally the acts of the recent kidnapped incidents were suspected to be done by either one of the two syndicates we're dealing with currently.)" Carlos opened the envelope, with a long list of children about Rosalia and Clair's ages that were listed missing.

"W-what's wrong?" Asked a worried Albert as he took a peek at the list. The policeman passed the list to the professor.

Carlos turned to his friend, a grave look printed on his face this time. "Looks like your children aren't the only one abducted by those thugs."

* * *

Albert was slightly confused where Carlos was taking him. Instead of driving a car (Which Carlos has a _very good _reason not to drive this time) Carlos hitchhiked a truck heading around the area where the man had a place in mind. It was a short trip anyway as the men reached another building, which is a lot shorter than the skyscrapers Albert sees everyday during his stay in Mexico. It was a small candy store, the 'Close' sign discouraging any customers from entering the shop, explaining the lack of lighting in its interior.

"Why are you taking me to a closed candy store?"

"We happened to find large amounts of cocaine stored in these boxes, after we caught those mobsters in action two weeks ago. This is linked to the kidnappings whatsoever, if that is the case." Carlos took two pairs of rubber gloves from a box, then passing one pair to Albert. "This is a crime scene, put these on." After putting them on, Albert had a few questions in mind as he observed the area. Several policemen were also seen walking around, with their gloves on as they removed a number of suspicious boxes out from all over the store.

"But those drugs could belong to other syndicates aside from the two you told me earlier on. We don't know if this belongs to the people we're suspecting."

"Easy." The policeman took an empty box and another packet of white powder from a corner, placing it carefully onto the table and pointed at a small mark in each corner. "See those red dots in each corner?" He flashed a magnifying glass at the corners for Albert and him to see. "They are tiny, but this is the sort of 'trademark' Leo would differentiate his goods from other syndicates." Carlos took one of his gloves out and rummaged at the bag left in the store, pulling out a few photos that were taken days ago.

"These are identical from what we saw in previous cases. It's not just El Paco's men who were at the amusement park; I did saw a few of Leo's men stationed there. From what I conceived, both groups are involved in a small-scale mob war, with Rosalia's doll being the 'prize' they were after." Carlos continued, giving Albert the opinion on his views of the case.

"So, what you're implying is…"

"Is that they will be after these drugs sooner or later, probably in exchange of both Rosalia and Clair." The policeman interrupted, thinking the same idea as Albert. "But we cannot make such risks; there are other children aside from your kids that need to be saved too." Carlos took a deep breath before continuing. "Intelligence had informed the police force that Leo will be trafficking the drugs to either the United States or Africa, as well as abduct the kidnapped children for child labour to their next destination. I apologize for saying such awful things, but we got to stop them before they do more harm to those children. And about the children, few had reported their cases to the police in fear of those mobsters acting out their 'revenge' against them. Looks like we have to save them by ourselves, even if it means putting our lives on the line."

Albert looked out at the window, the street lights were flickering on one by one. "It's getting late. Let's go for dinner; we would have the energy to precede finding out the truth, save my kids and those who were kidnapped." He clenched his fist, angry at the fact that they had hurt his children one way or another.

"If they want to play mind games with us, so will we. We shall see who has the last laugh."

* * *

**Not to worry, the soft and light-hearted parts will return once Clair and Rosalia are saved. And many thanks to Kumarafan-06 for coming up with the names of the syndicate leaders. The fluff will return after both kids are rescued. The weather in my country changes drastically nowadays, 2 floods had occurred just this month. Luckily my area wasn't flooded, but still…**

**I'm taking a break for a while, after writing 8 chapters non-stop for weeks. I will be back soon, but I can only publish one chapter per week since school's about to start for me. You guys must be out there watching the World Cup (I'm not a soccer person, sorry), that's why I wasn't feeling motivated one bit to get this chapter done when no one reviewed on chapter 7. I better update more, or else I'm turning this into a dead fic, which I promised you guys that it won't be. **

**The personality (To a lesser extent, appearance) of the second criminal, Leonardo "Leo" León González, was inspired by a certain character in Baccano. It's a no-brainer if you watched the show or check out the profiles of the main cast. **

**Reviews and feedback are welcome, thus motivating me to get on with the story. About the hitchhiking thing, I'm unsure if this is done right in the United States or in Mexico since no one does this in Singapore at all. **


	9. Rescue

To be frank there, that set of never-ending punches and kicks had made him wide-awake.

Badly bruised and injured, Clair raised his shoulder and wiped the blood out of his face. With the thug with possible intention to violate his sister, he found himself giving the man a powerful head butt before he proceeded to attack the boy while shouting angrily in Spanish. Sure, the kicks broke a bone or two in his ribs, but that alone had made him very much awake in this cold storage.

The thug left hastily to get away from him, his bad temper unable to stand those pesky kids standing in his way.

Clair was thinking of finding a way out of this warehouse, be it hopeless or not. Strange…is it him or is the temperature here dipping fast? Touching Rosalia's cold hands, he was sure that it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. The other children sleeping around him were still sound in their dreams, unaware of the situation they are in.

Well, at least they are safe…for now. He was thinking of lying down next to his sister-

Wait a second. He could hear a strange noise coming nearby. Clair listened intensively. He was probably hallucinating weird noises, with an empty stomach making the noise difficult not to dismiss. The ropes binding his arms and legs made blood circulation around the area hard to function.

"Tick… tick…"

* * *

The dark sky spread across the endless space as police cars sped through the bustling roads, the never-ending siren can be heard all across the city. A restless Albert and Carlos were taking the back seat this time, leaving Carlos' fellow colleagues to do the driving as they devised a plan to infiltrate El Paco's hideout.

Carlos shoved a gun at Albert. "Don't show this to anyone. Just to play safe in case El Paco's men start hurting Rosalia and Clair." He spoke with a hoarse whisper. The professor took the gun and placed it in his jacket and nodded.

As the cars continued driving towards the hideout, he could hear his heartbeat palpating quicker and quicker every minute. But there's no time for self-depreciation. He must do whatever it takes to save his children. He did not spend his life adopting two kids just for nothing. Soon they found themselves out of the city, with the lack of streetlights making it difficult for Carlos, with an injured head, to have clear visibility of his surroundings.

The group of policemen then found themselves a large fortress-like warehouse situated in the middle of endless shrubs, finding the sea right at the back of the base. Finding two trucks with boxes full of cigarettes and drugs, the police find themselves the syndicate as devils in plain sight; they are definitely up to no good.

The group put themselves in position. Holding their guns with caution, Carlos and his team made sure they do not catch any attention from whatever it's in there, be it the hostages, the rest of their 'goods' or thugs. Carlos signaled Albert and three other policemen to follow him, sneakily finding a way into the warehouse. Surprisingly, the men find themselves an open door, but nonetheless proceeded with caution just in case they were in for a nasty trap.

"(When I say tres [Three in Spanish], we go in, but don't fire.)" Carlos instructed, with a response coming back from Albert and his colleagues. "Uno, dos…tres!"

Carlos delivered a strong kick at the metal door as the five of them moved slowly into the hideout. Glancing at the dim-lit surroundings, it took some time before Albert could find what he was thinking the entire time prior to the kidnappings.

There was a safe Rosalia sound asleep with his brother, hands, mouth and legs tied together. Clair muffled louder upon seeing his father in sight, shaking his head to show the other kids that were kidnapped too. A delighted and relieved Albert then made his way to untie his son, separating from the rest of the group, but little did he know…

Albert could feel the tip of the gun touching his head.

"(Don't. Move.)"

The professor turned to the other policemen. "What did he say?"

Carlos and his colleagues then point their guns at the criminal. "Just don't move." Translating the man's words, he turned to the children before returning back to the thug. "(What do you want?)"

"(Those drugs you found at the store that belonged to Don Leo; we need them. We were supposed to bring those drugs away for transport but you meddling policemen ruined the plans of our syndicate. Just doing what my boss instructed.)"

"(And the children?)"

"(Heh. Do you think I'm that stupid to tell you what we're going to do with them? Fat chance.)" With that, he aimed at one of the policemen, hoping to shoot one of them down, conveying the message that he wasn't kidding around with them. The policeman, noticing the thug's actions did a roll to avoid getting hit by the bullet then aimed at his weapon before opening fire onto him.

Out of the three shots, the thug managed to escape two of them with the last one shot at his upper thigh. Blood then dripped out of the injured area as the thug tried stopping the blood flow. A number of people, probably with the thug too then got out of their hiding areas and began firing at well. Figuring that they were outnumbered, Carlos and the others tried dodging the bullets firing in their way. Despite the help of crates lying around the warehouse, the situation became dire, as Carlos must be wary about the amount of bullets to use.

Replacing the bullets in his handgun, Carlos tried aiming for the heads of those syndicate members, and succeeded in taking some of them off out of their mini-battlefield. It was impressive, despite the injury he got at the amusement park earlier on. He proceed moving forward while getting other thugs out of the way until he reached Albert where he pulled out a unexpected, deserving punch on his face.

"(Avoid shooting the children. Do not fire at will.)" Carlos ordered, simultaneously kicking the thug's abdomen to make sure he doesn't find any means to hurt anyone. "What are you waiting for? Go untie those kids and flee!" A startled Albert takes immediate action in untying his children and the other kidnapped hostages as well. Clair, with his hands and legs untied then pulled his father towards a dark corner with trails of unknown liquid leading the way, trying to find something as he crouch on the cold floor.

"Professor, if my hunch is right," The red-eyed boy pulled something out at the dark floor, an electronic timer with several explosives and colorful wires tied around together. "It's a trap from the beginning, the moment we set foot here."

0:48... 0:47…

"(Move out! Move out! Take those drugs and get away from here!)" One of them screamed like a madman, his voice booming across the cold warehouse. Everyone stopped firing bullets at their opponents, carried as many boxes as possible before making their escape from the police.

Carlos joined Clair and Albert in stopping the bomb. "Told the kids that were wide awake to untie the other children. Don't worry, Rosalia's fine. Great, if only I knew that there's a bomb located in this stupid place. I would have brought a bomb squad to diffuse this thing."

"It's too late for regrets now. All we need to do now is to find a way to stop this bomb from exploding." Albert took out his Swiss Army knife from his pocket, opening the case as he progress in preventing their impending deaths. In it were three wires, one red, one yellow and one blue.

0:12… 0:10…

"Son," Albert tapped the boy's shoulder with the knife on his other hand. "Go join Rosalia and the other kids out of this place."

Clair wished his father would never say that, his father's smile making it hard to make this urgent situation a little calmer. "You won't die. You'll definitely go to pick the right wire to stop that thing from exploding." Saying those possibly last words to his father, he turned and dashed out of the warehouse.

"So, nitroglycerine…eh? They could use a better substitute for this." The mood turned gravely serious as Carlos dismissed his friend's bad sense of humor. With his hand shaking as he tried to find the right wire to break, both men then closed their eyes and Albert hastily snapped the red wire in half. They waited quietly, hoping that the bomb will deactivate in time.

Please work…God, please let this work…

0:05… 0:04… BOMB DEACTIVATED

The moment Albert and Carlos opened their eyes, they find themselves lying down on the cold hard floor, taking in a few deep breathes as they succeed diffusing the bomb on time.

"I never want to join the Bomb Squad again, shall I have the chance from HQ."

* * *

**I would like to thank Clarissa Gavin for beta-reading this chapter just before her camping trip. Many thanks.**

**It's a short chapter this time, but I will make up the short length of this chapter to the next chapter. The fluff will be back (Can hear the cheers from those who wants that softer tone back.), so many things to do. And about the action scenes, probably this chapter took long to write is because I seldom write people fighting. It's good practice for me, however. Man I need some tips on writing actions scenes in future. **

**Sorry for the big delay. So many things to do with the new school term approaching in less than two weeks time… Especially all those new anime shows coming up this season. (If you're wondering, I'm only following Shiki and Ookami-san consistently since new school life's becoming hectic for me.) The good news is, I'm attending their orientation program on the 14th which is 5 days before the new term begun. Good bye, vacation; hello, school. (Don't feel like going outside; wanna stay at home playing video games and finish writing fanfics.)**

**Like I said in my A/Ns in previous chapters, I can only update weekly, or maybe longer than that (About every fortnightly, I don't know). But please give me some time to settle into my new school life, I'm entering a new school BTW. I hope I can meet new friends and push the old shame of my primary/secondary school life aside. I feel like composing my own songs, seeing how those composers using the VOCALOID software made all those awesome songs in NND.**

**I was thinking deeply about the Rosalia Virus to sink into my mind for quite some time. I'm afraid I have to delay some chapters a little longer since things don't flow the way I expect them to be. But after that the rest of the plot remains as usual.**


	10. A Day at the Hospital

It was a beautiful day after the dreaded kidnapping episode that happened a day ago. With the taxi stopping at the entrance of Bay Hospital right on time, Albert and a slightly injured Rosalia got out of the vehicle as they made their way to Clair's ward. The professor, carrying a small fruit basket and his little daughter holding his other hand proceed their way but unknowingly found a joyful Carlos switching the channel on the television set.

Albert placed the wrapped basket on the table, calling Rosalia to play with her brother. "You look awfully joyful there after rescuing children and catching syndicate members." He turned to his son. "Feeling better?"

Clair nodded. "I feel fine, aside from a few bone fractures." He pointed at his bandaged arm and leg, both looking fine after treatment.

"Actually, I have good news." Carlos then left the children alone watching Mexican soap operas, pushing his friend further from the kids. "Caught Leo right after we save the kidnapped children. And speaking of that, they have returned to their respective parents. About their drug activities, we managed to seize most of it. We interrogated Leo for the past 12 hours, however he failed to cooperate with us despite many threats to make him confess where he hid the other drugs."

"Then what about the other one?"

"Oh, him? Only caught some of his men, but El Paco's nowhere to be seen. Well, at least it's a vast improvement from what we did in the past weeks."

"Why are you telling me all this? I mean, from what I know those details should be kept confidential. I'm no police officer."

"You did tell me you were worried about those kidnapped kids. Now let's-"

"OW!"

The two older men turned back, seeing Clair with an anguished look, holding his bandaged arm caught their attention.

"I-I'm so sorry. Did I press your arm a little too hard?" Rosalia was about to touch the injured arm when a hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her from doing anything else. She raised her head, looking at Clair with his face still red, with his other hand holding her wrist. "Oh, silly me." She brushed her arm off and then kept quiet as the children obediently watched television.

Carlos looked at the clear blue sky and shakes his head. He grabbed the remote controller from the table and switched the screen off, leaving an irritated Rosalia on the run for her only entertainment in the hospital. "Don't watch this trashy soap opera; _telenovelas _are renowned for being too melodramatic to you Americans. Exposure to too much angst is bad for your mental health. It's a great day out there, you mind for a game of soccer?"

* * *

"I see. You…never heard of soccer?"

"Heard of it, but most of us are interested in American football. Soccer's not very popular back home."

"You're missing out the fun! Here, let me show you a few moves of mine…kick that ball back to me."

"H-h-h-how?" The boy then struggled between his cast and his other foot, urging to return the circular ball. As he figured out a way to take it back to Carlos, he felt his light body reaching the green grass with the crutch slipping off of his touch. Seeing that, Albert and Rosalia, sitting along the benches inside the compounds attempted to help Clair. The red-eyed boy waved his hand as he successfully stood his ground, taking the crutch and unleashed all his might to kick the ball back to Carlos. Despite the mild pain of his injured leg, he caressed it before facing his 'opponent' for the second time.

"Oh woah, be careful. You don't want to hurt yourself." The Mexican policeman sniffed out a few laughs at the boy's clumsiness. Father and daughter then heaved a sigh of relieve and went back to their seats. "Nice try for a beginner, now watch this!" Kicking the black and white truncated icosahedron ball back to the teenaged kid, they found themselves so emerged with their little game that they tend to forget the other patients walking round the outdoor path. Clair felt that there was no language barrier in between their game; it was true that he had difficulty listening to Carlos's heavy-accented English whenever he took him and his sister out for sight-seeing. Playing a different game aside from American football makes them feel connected, with a link that they aren't much different.

With his lonely senses tingling, Albert left his daughter alone (but not without calling a nurse to look after her, in case she runs off and got lost) and joined in the fun. Reminiscing the high school days where he was the resident loser when it comes to sports; he can't kick a ball properly, he was always the first person to be eliminated at dodgeball and came in last in an unmemorable track-and-field school competition.

"Well, don't leave me out of this fun game you're having. Let's see what you guys have what it takes. Whoever kicks the ball the furthest wins the game."

"Don't make us laugh, Al." Carlos mocked as he tried his best not to laugh out loud in front of Albert. "When it comes to sports, sayyyy that you are a hopeless case on this one."

"I-I…" He was at a loss of words. He can't take back what he just said to his son and his friend. If only he took control of his big mouth. He has to face this…like a true man. "I will show you what I can do. You first, son."

Rosalia, along with several others watched the game in awe. It was her very first time seeing her father doing something athletic; he was always either busy or too weary in his work lately, without having the chance to know more about her current paternal figure. Imagining him having his suave legs kicking the ball, up flying into the air, she knew her fantasies won't fail all the time. After all, life is not always full of miseries.

"Go, Daddy, go!" The little girl cheered for her father, before his father waved back at her. (The nurse had to remind Rosalia after she got a little too far, unintentionally disturbing the patients resting back at their wards.)

With a smug smile, it was Albert's turn to kick the ball.

* * *

"Oh lord this is embarrassing."

"Oh, Daddy, you're wide awake?" He could hear her daughter standing next to him, seeing the white ceiling facing him. Finding himself at his son's ward, lying on his bed, as he tried to take a deep breathe he found his nose hurting a lot, pinching it in pain as he turned to the side of the bed.

Carlos and Clair take a closer look at his face. "Are you all right?"

"All right? How can I be all right? Okay, fine, I admit, I'm bad at sports. But you don't need to kick my groin AND my face to get the message across, for goodness sake." Albert argued childishly, removing his hand from his nose, discovering a red stain on his palm. "Blood?"

"Here, a plaster. It was an accident. You should have moved away from that place while Clair and I are at it. Blame yourself, not anyone else about this. This is how all ball games are like." Carlos poured a glass of water and gave it to Albert. "Man, sometimes you're a pain in the ass."

"Oh let me give you rough." Albert rose from the bed and pushed Carlos to the side. Falling at the side, Carlos did the same. Doing it continuously for the past 3 minutes, the fight then turned from a push fight to a slap fight where they battle themselves out of childish matters. Watching at the sidelines, a shocked Rosalia turned to her brother.

"Why are Daddy and Uncle Carlos fighting?"

"Well, sometimes adults do act like kids." Feeling uncomfortable with Rosalia seeing his father and the policeman slapping them in the face, while screaming as both men were too angry to speak coherently, Clair took her hand. "Let's get out here until the both of them settle their small problem by themselves. And I need to go to the washroom."

Taking her brother's instruction to heart, she took one last look at them, each hand flying to and fro as they collapsed onto the floor when they find themselves unable to maintain any balance. Rosalia shook her head with disappointment before aiding her brother to the washroom.

Back in Clair's ward after the adults settled their differences (Rosalia forced both of them to apologize the moment she and Clair returned and saw that the both of them are still arguing), Carlos spread his holiday itinerary onto the small table as all of them planned on what to do. Finding themselves missing many activities over the kidnapping episode, all they had to say was 'no…" or shook their heads.

"This won't do…guess I bring this to the 8th day…no choice but we need to miss this one…" Carlos whispered to himself, circling, crossing out or pointing arrows on the sheet of paper. "Okay kids, I'm afraid we have to skip some of our activities in my itinerary. Roller coaster rides are out of option, buddy. You don't want your broken limbs to fly around the sky by the time the ride ends." He pointed at Clair, who doesn't look bothered one bit about missing out the ride.

"There's always the roller coaster ride back home. Not that it bothers me." Clair shrugged the small problem off as he speak, holding onto his bandaged arm.

It took a few more strokes before Carlos turned back to the Sartre family. "Aside from a few hiccups, most of the activities will proceed as planned. And before you speak up, no, we are not going bullfighting. Unless you want to die painfully, that is. So Albert, you think Clair will discharge from the hospital soon?"

"I talked to the doctor not too long ago. He should be recovering fast if he take good care of his body, so from the doctor's estimation he should be out of here…in about two or three days time." Albert counted using his fingers, looking up at the spinning fan, contemplating on his vacation plans. "About time we have some fun," he paused as he turned to his children. "I apologize that work got in the way of our family time, but let's have as much fun as we can the moment my son here quickly makes a quick recovery…"

"And then I won't have to eat the food here anymore." Clair interrupted, lying nicely on his bed. "Not to complain anyhow, but really, hospital food is horrible." Speaking of the devil, it was already lunchtime and the nurse, pushing a tray of food, distributed lunch to everyone in the ward. The moment the nurse placed the pile of food onto Clair's table, Rosalia jumped up excitedly as she saw the plain dish lying on the desk.

"It doesn't look awful to me. You mind if I have that for lunch?"

"Oh, sure. Go ahead. Don't return it back to me if you find it…unpalatable to your taste." Taking the metal plate out of the table, Rosalia scooped up a spoonful and take a bite. Looking very green the second she place the food into her mouth, she hastily took a glass of water and took a big gulp, never mind how fast the water gushed all the food out of her mouth.

"T-t-t-t…Yuck! I…I can't believe that this is actual food…it tastes terrible!" Rosalia hissed, swiftly placing the plate back to the table. "I'm so fortunate that I didn't end up here, I doubt I'll stay alive if I stay here for a day."

While the children were at it, Albert took out a long list, consisting mostly of Mexican souvenirs and weird items he supposing had never heard of in his first forty-something years of his life. Some of the stranger items were listed; fake Palenque glyphs (Just buy the imitation version, the originals are way too expensive), skulls made out of sugar, a super-sized piñata with assorted candies inside as well as a fun-sized _vihuela_ and Spanish names that are left for interpretation (Even Carlos had no idea that the selected items under the list exist). He shouldn't have agreed to his colleague about buying weird stuffs. Who knows if the items are non-existent or the professor was taking Albert as a fool. But, at least his colleague did tell him that the money will be eventually paid back to him as soon as he bought the goods.

"I should have said no in the first place."

* * *

**A/N: Hey, the fluff is back again! And about the Mexican soap operas, yes, it is true that most of them are known for its overdramatic drama with female leads that are too dumb to think for themselves. So sorry that I made Albert too OOC, behaving childishly this time. (Ohh, here comes another slap…WHACK!)**

**This also means the end of the Mexico arc, as we see the concluding arc fold in the next chapter. It seems there are going to be major changes around the next few chapters or so, I have no choice but to deviate from my original plans. I'm not so sure if it's for the better or not but I'll try my best to get the rest of the story across. Update will slow down in the next few weeks or so since I have to adjust my new school life. So much pressure and stress…feel so sick…**

**I have a gut of re-editing the past chapters; in my opinion the continuity of each chapter feels disjointed at time so if you don't mind I would like to make some minor changes if I have some free time in my hands. **

**Watched 'Despicable Me' in 3D yesterday. Funny movie, as well as heart-warming (luckily those yellow minions didn't get too much in the way of the story) and man, I got to pay more attention to the studio who made this movie in future. This can be a good way to make a big break for them and join the other animation powerhouses soon enough. (I'm looking at Dreamworks and Pixar here.) So those yellow minions; are there any female ones? (Aside from the one that cross-dresses throughout the film.)**

**To end this off with a good note, wait patiently for the next chapter, which is the last chapter to end off the Mexico arc nicely. Please read and review after you're done. **


	11. Recalling

It was only 4 a.m. in the morning and Rosalia was still wide awake as she looked at the photos taken during their family vacation on her brother's digital camera. Two hours has passed since they came home and she wasn't feeling too comfortable staying in the silence. Claire has turned for the night since his arm isn't fully healed, listening to his step-father's advice to turn in early. Albert, on the other hand was reading through his e-mails unread during his short stint in Mexico. It certainly helps that she slept in the afternoon before heading to the airport.

She never remembered what happened to her after the chaotic incident at the amusement park, but when she tried asking his brother a couple of hours ago, he simply avoid answering the question, which he pushed his sister away from her question, talking about other things instead. A glance of Claire's upset expression, which is somehow different from his straight expression he held most of the time with her and Albert, greatly inferred that the answer would hurt her if she knew. Frankly, she has no recollection while stuck in some place before rescue came.

She wouldn't want to ask her step-father about this either. She knew that he would give his daughter that same expression like Claire's. She felt that she who wouldn't want to disturb his father from work, Rosalia tip-toed her way downstairs. She picked an apple from the refrigerator and washed it before taking her bite on the fruit.

It got her thinking: She often wondered about his brother's mysterious composure and stoic personality. It wasn't the right time to ask him about his past before he was adopted and she wasn't too keen in asking such a personal question. Did something happen to him? Did his parents hate him?

She was getting sleepier as the hours go by watching television and soon fell into a deep sleep, the apple core dropped off the sofa, resting on the carpet.

* * *

"Drug cartels? Working with the police? On a rescue mission? Woah, Albert; I didn't know that your vacation would be cooler than the rest of us!" A young brunette wearing a sturdy lab coat on started fantasizing on Sartre's vacation in Mexico. "Too bad I have to get work done during your absence; it's hard to get those kids' attention on my previous lectures."

Albert shook his head. "It was way scarier if you were stuck in my shoes, Sandra." He stirred his soothing cup of coffee before lying back on the couch. "Fortunately both of my kids were alive; I wouldn't want to lose any of them in front of my eyes. Claire got hurt because of my carelessness. Anyways, I got all the stuff you wanted while my children and I were in Mexico, except for that weird thing that I don't bother pronouncing properly. The truth is…what do you need that for?"

All Sandra did was to let out an 'Oh' before getting back to the office to prepare for her next lecture. "For my personal collection. If you have seen enough weird stuff in your life, like the Loch Ness monster, you haven't seen anything yet. Well, see you later Professor. It was hard teaching Virology during your absence. Back to teaching pharmacology, do da do da~"

He was expecting to be alone for some time in the lecturers' lounge but little did he know that he would be getting a little surprising from his other colleagues. As Albert gazed at the blue sky, he felt a sudden nudge from his shoulder, seeing a woman a little younger than he is but still a couple of years older than Sandra.

"Welcome back, Professor!" She held up a large teddy bear, with her head visible in the eyes of blue-haired professor. "I didn't prepare much when Blake and I found out about you adopting a daughter." She pressed the teddy bear at Albert. "That's for your daughter Ros…"

"Rosalia, Katie." An old man who spoke with a slight British accent stepped in, despite appearing frail and hunching a little, was a brilliant man who has much understanding of the human body.

"That's some memory work you got there Blake." Katie joked, with Blake frowning next to her. "You even forgot your 40th wedding anniversary last weekend with your wife and you managed to remember his daughter's name? That's some brain you got there."

"The brain, I must say, is the most mysterious organ in the human body." He pulled Katie's hand off his shoulder and then adjusted his spectacles. "We're still making progress in the research of knowing about the brain's functions, young lady." He then turned to a tired Albert, taking his next steps to sit next to him as the female lecturer prepares coffee for herself and her fellow colleague. "I met Cassandra on my way here and told me something about what happened to your son and daughter. Are they all right?"

"Fortunately, they are. And no, the incidents are more dangerous and less exciting, very different at how Professor Twinklemind put it. I would be gunning at those thugs now if you were in that situation that day." Albert massaged the bridge of his eyes as he spoke. "Could you pass me that cup of coffee on the table?"

Blake passed him the cup of coffee. "You need some time with your children again? Have you considered putting them in the care centre?"

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back and I would like to apologize once again for the lack of update. Christmas' coming soon, I've been sick and currently recovering ever since, so pardon me for the inconsistence, if you find any. Over the time of my absence, I received quite a number of alerts and favorites for this story. I would like to thank you for commenting and follow my story. And since I promised you that I'm going to complete this fic one day, I can't break my promise now, can I? I apologize, again, for the really long Author's Notes in this chapter, since I would like to clarify some things I found not too long ago during my absence.**

**We've arrived to the end of the Mexico arc (Yes, I know. I should have completed this a long time ago.) And I know that it kinda ends with a different mindset of what it should originally be. Initially this chapter is a lot longer and goes through the things the family did before returning back to Cumberland, but during the period of hiatus I found out that it would be too boring and irrelevant to the storyline, so I changed it to the way it is now. The next chapter leads the way to a new arc and until then, wait patiently and I'll get this done in a blink of an eye. I apologize again (wishing that you guys come hit me in the chest right now, since I sort of abandon this great fic for centuries) and don't forget to leave your comments. I promise that the next chapter will be a lot longer than this.**

**I'm so confused right now, since I visited the Trauma Centre Wikia page again after not looking at it for months. Got into CR-S01's page and found out his real name: Erhard/Erhardt Muller. And according to the info given, this was only listed in the Japanese guidebook. WTH? Okay, Atlus, what are you up to again, or are you starting to be like Square-Enix where all the important and extra stuff are kept away from the rest of the world? And not to worry, I'll probably be using the aforementioned real name another time. It's not the right time right now, since I'm still registering this piece of surprising news in my head...**

**Yeah, so the apple Rosalia ate is somewhat foreshadowing something in later chapters…heh, faux symbolism? Into other things, I was planning for Sandra and her colleagues to enter the story at a much later time…say…8 more chapters to go, but it would be better if you guys know a bit about them now.**

**I'm currently writing a new KH fic called 'Sorants' so please read it if you are familiar with the mess in KH (Yes, it's a big, big mess if you don't have a wiki with you to fill the gaps). After I stop writing KH fics around 2007/2008, it's time that I trace back to where I started in 2006. It's fun to reminisce the great memories of my heydays, but I don't like my writing style of back then. Well, people changed overtime. **


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